It is time for the EU to initiate a Trans-Caspian Partnership

EU leaders’ decision to start accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine has put the final nail in the coffin of the Eastern Partnership which was never designed to handle enlargement. The time is therefore ripe for a geopolitically more assertive EU to geographically reimagine and thematically widen its Eastern policy. Substituting the obsolete Eastern Partnership for a new Trans-Caspian Partnership could be the solution. In the South Caucasus and Central Asia, the desire to forge closer ties with the EU has increased following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

August 21, 2024 - Johan Engvall