The EU’s neighborhood policies and association agreements, and their unintended effects on post-soviet border countries

Abstract

In 1991, the collapse of the Soviet Union created fifteen post-Soviet states. These states, excluding Russia, are typically divided into four geographic groups; the Baltic States, East-Central Europe, the Southern Caucasus, and Central Asia. While the Baltic states asserted their independence and have never given a backwards glance, the others were aware of the need to coexist with Russia, with whom they had significant economic ties. This research examines the political history of post-Soviet border countries in East-Central Europe and the Southern Caucus and their contemporary relationships with Russia and the European Union to better understand the context behind the choice made by Armenia and Ukraine against signing Association Agreements with the European Union in the Fall of 2013, as well as the consequences of these decisions. This research will draw from primary sources including reports by former ambassadors, the terms of the association agreements, as well as relevant case studies of other post-Soviet frozen conflict zones to include the Trans-Dniest breakaway state along the border of Moldova and Ukraine, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic within Azerbaijan, and the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 that lead to the Russian occupation of the two Georgian regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia.