Normative power and economic orientation of EU foreign policy in Eastern partnership initiative (Case study: Moldova and Belarus)

Document Type : Original

Authors

Department of Regional Studies, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Following the expansion of the European Union to ten Eastern European countries in 2004, serious discussions were raised regarding the risk of further expansion. The European Neighborhood Policy was a solution to further expansion without formal annexation. In 2009, the European Union and its six Eastern partners (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus) launched the Eastern Partnership initiative based on a commitment to fundamental values, market economy, sustainable development and good governance. As can be clearly seen in the text of the neighborhood policy and the Eastern Partnership initiative, the European Union places great emphasis on the procedures and norms based on European values and tries to define its foreign relations based on these norms. The current article seeks to answer the question, how has the normative power of the European Union affected the economic dimension of its foreign policy in the Eastern Partnership initiative, with an emphasis on Belarus and Moldova? In response, it may be possible to hypothesize that the European Union's emphasis on the norms of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law has activated the conditionality mechanism in the economic dimension of the European Union's foreign policy. Examining the two case studies of this article, namely Belarus and Moldova, and their commercial and economic relations with the European Union, clearly indicate the use of the European Union's conditionality mechanism. To test this hypothesis, Schimmelfning's theory of Europeanization and process tracing method has been used.

Keywords

Main Subjects

حوزة موضوعی: اتحادیة اروپا: مولداوی و بلاروس

Scope: EU: Moldova & Belarus

References

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Journal of Countries Studies
Volume 3, Issue 1
2025
Pages 39-65

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History

  • Receive Date: 24 August 2024
  • Revise Date: 14 September 2024
  • Accept Date: 15 September 2024

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