Balancing on the Shoulders of Giants: Moldova's Foreign Policy toward Russia and the European Union

Cantir, Cristian; Kennedy, Ryan

doi:10.1111/fpa.12051

Cited by 29 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The foreign policy attitudes of Moldovans have not been addressed in the literature so far, upon our knowledge, but few papers characterize the Moldova’s foreign policy as “soft balancing” between Russia and European Union. More specifically [ 37 ], state that Moldova switched to the European Union using a light balancing strategy, but only when the EU has created the framework for such an attitude [ 38 ]. examine the similarities of the EU and Russia policies developed by them in Moldova, and they find that both aim attracting the local elites to be therefore able to indirectly influence the internal policy areas.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Russia’s political influence on the Moldova’s foreign policy attitudes is transmitted inter alia by the Russian communication channels, and this is clearly confirmed by the negative sign of all coefficients which are significant in all four models. People trusting the Russian communication channels strongly reject all political measures which however are rejected by the Russia governments as well [ 37 ]. The exception at this point could be the measure of federalization.…”

Section: Empirical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examining the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova

Szeles

2021

PLoS ONE

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This paper aims to examine the correlates of foreign policy attitudes in Moldova by a multilevel analysis, and to also reveal some characteristics of the Moldova’s difficult geopolitical and economic context, such as the ethnical conflicts and poverty. A set of four foreign policy attitudes are explained upon individual- and regional level socio-economic and demographic correlates, of which poverty is the main focus, being represented here by several objective, subjective, uni- and multidimensional indicators. An indicator of deprivation is derived from a group of poverty indicators by the method Item Response Theory. Deprivation, subjective poverty, ethnicity and the Russian media influence are found to be associated with negative attitudes toward all foreign policies, while satisfaction with economic conditions in the country and a positive attitude toward refugees are both associated with positive attitudes toward all foreign policies.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Empirical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova

Szeles

2021

PLoS ONE

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“…It was anticipated that the EU was afraid to be too critical of communist policies, for fear of driving Moldova towards the Russian sphere. Furthermore, more committed engagement by the EU in its Eastern neighbourhood allowed Moldova to potentially balance the excessive influence of Russia much more effectively than in the 1990s (Cantir and Kennedy, 2015). The result of this somewhat delicate balancing act was a gradual worsening relationship with Russia in 2003-6.…”

Section: The 2000s: the New Neighboursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relations between Moldova and the European Union

Całus¹,

Kosienkowski²

2018

The European Union and Its Eastern Neighbourhood

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This chapter examines relations between Moldova and the European Union since the beginning of the 1990s. What is important for these relationships is that Moldova has expressed the intention of joining the EU since the second half of the 1990s. However, despite its pro-European inclinations, it can be defined as a country that is torn between the West and the East. On the one hand, Moldova is a country with linguistic, cultural and historical ties with Romania, a Latin country which has been a member of the EU since 2007. On the other hand, it is a country with strong links with its Soviet past and Russia that perceives the whole post-Soviet area as its sphere of influences. This chapter traces the evolution of relations between Moldova and the EU: from the strangers in the 1990s to the new neighbours in the 2000s to the (alleged) partners in the 2010s. In each of these periods motivations and obstacles to cooperation between Moldova's governments and the EU as well as the attitudes of the Moldovan population toward European integration are analysed. A balance of cooperation is also presented.

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“…Hence, the post-Soviet coutnries have been constrained to choose between the EU and Russia's hegemony . In turn, the leaders of some these countries (such as Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) have used a pro-European narrative for electoral purposes and frequently adopted democratic reforms symbolically, without really aiming to implement them (Cantir & Kennedy 2015;Declour & Wolczuk 2015a;Dragneva & Wolczuk 2015).…”

Section: The Eu's Ideal Self In the Post-soviet Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

The European Union’s ‘Ideal Self’ in the Post-Soviet Space

Nitoiu

2018

Europe-Asia Studies

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During the last two decades, one of the cornerstones of the foreign policy of the European Union (EU) has been the development of a strong presence in its neighbourhood. The 2003 Security Strategy and the recent 2016Global Strategy highlighted the need to show that the EU can play a major role in the international arena by first establishing a strong presence in the neighbourhood and proving the union's effectiveness in the region. In this context, the aim of the essay is to explore the way the EU's 'ideal self' is constructed and perceived in the post-Soviet space. DURING THE LAST TWO DECADES, ONE OF THE CORNERSTONES OF THE foreign policy of the European Union (EU) has been represented by the development of a strong presence in its neighbourhood (Raik & Dinesen 2015). The 2003 Security Strategy 1 and the recent 2016 Global Strategy 2 highlighted the need to show that the European Union can play a major role in the international arena by first establishing a strong presence in the 1 The 2003 Security Strategy highlighted the EU's ambition to play a key role in world politics, and the expectation that it would manage to influence its neighbourhood following the 2004/2007 'big bang' enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe. For more details see: https://europa.eu/globalstrategy/en/europeansecurity-strategy-secure-europe-better-world 2 The 2016 Global Strategy stresses the fact that world politics has become less stable than a decade ago and require a different approach from the EU. The emphasis is on the need to develop an approach based on principled pragmatism, where the EU has more limited ambitions in international relations and seeks to pursue its interests in foreign policy. For more details see: https://europa.eu/globalstrategy/en/global-strategy-foreignand-security-policy-european-union 2 neighbourhood and proving the union's effectiveness in the region. This broad aim has been translated in various initiatives towards the neighbourhood such as the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) 3 , the Easter Partnership (EaP) 4 , and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) 5 . As part of the European neighbourhood, the post-Soviet space has thus received significant attention from the EU, who aimed to shape both the domestic and foreign policies of the countries in the region. However, the EU's track record of shaping developments in the post-Soviet space has been at best mixed (Ademmer 2014), given the reluctance of some post-Soviet states to go beyond rhetoric in adapting their policies as well as EU member states' unwillingness and lack of commitment to fully support the union's approach to the region (Nilsson & Silander 2016). EU ouvertures have also been received with scepticism by some post-Soviet states, which tend to see EU policy towards the region as deeply unilateral, asymmetrical, and without regard for the specificities or needs of each country (Delcour 2010). Most of the findings from the open literature refer to the EU's ability to promote its integration project in the post-Soviet states, that is, the ...

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Balancing on the Shoulders of Giants: Moldova's Foreign Policy toward Russia and the European Union

Cited by 29 publications

References 34 publications

Examining the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova

Examining the foreign policy attitudes in Moldova

Relations between Moldova and the European Union

The European Union’s ‘Ideal Self’ in the Post-Soviet Space

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