Prospects of the Eastern Partnership under modern challenges to the European security system

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to examine the Eastern Partnership initiative as a component of the European Neighbourhood Policy and a tool of regional security by taking into account the factor of Russian aggression and the military conflict in eastern Ukraine. Based on methods of analysis and synthesis, content analysis of primary and secondary sources of information, modelling and prediction, the following objectives are achieved: (1) to determine the vulnerabilities in the programme design, given the current geopolitical threats, and (2) to develop proposals to change the security component of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) within the context of the Russian- Ukrainian conflict. The significant shortcomings of the existing EaP model are highlighted, in particular, the initiative overall ineffectiveness, the EU membership perspective in the long run, disregarded national features, the lack of commitment by the EU countries to strengthen the integration, the security component weakness and the insufficient European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) financial support. It is concluded that intensification of the cooperation of the EaP partner countries in the area of security will not only contribute to the initiative development, but it will also enhance national securities and promote the development of a zone of stability and democracy as well as the European security space consolidation.