EUISS Chaillot Paper No. 144 (March 2018)

Third powers in Europe’s east

Summary:

Relations between most of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries and third powers have been visibly intensifying in recent years. China, Turkey, Iran and the Arab states are all a bigger presence in the region than was the case a decade ago. This trend is driven by, on the one hand, the growing economic and foreign policy ambitions of the third powers, and on the other by the EaP countries’ eagerness to expand their economic and diplomatic links with powers other than the EU, US or Russia. Through a strategy of increased engagement with the third powers, these countries are seeking to diversify their trade and foreign policy options, in the process even further diluting what was once primarily a Russian sphere of influence.

This Chaillot Paper examines the geopolitical repercussions of the rising presence of third powers in the region, and how the growing constellation of partnerships between the EaP countries and these powers serves a range of strategic purposes for the actors involved.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: What are third powers up to in Europe’s East? | Nicu Popescu and Stanislav Secrieru
• The supply side: third powers’ approaches to the EU’s eastern neighbourhood
  • Chinese approaches to the eastern neighbourhood | Thomas S. Eder
  • China, the new Silk Road and the EU’s eastern neighbourhood | Michal Makocki
  • Turkish approaches to the EU’s eastern neighbourhood | Ozlem Demirtas-Bagdonas
  • Iranian approaches to the EU’s eastern neighbourhood | Ariane Tabatabai
  • Arab approaches to the EU’s eastern neighbourhood | Julia Lisiecka
  • Israeli approaches to the EU’s eastern neighbourhood | Julia Lisiecka
• The demand side: the EU’s eastern neighbours’ approaches to third powers
  • The third powers and Ukraine | Hanna Shelest
  • The third powers and Belarus | Anaïs Marin
  • The third powers and the Republic of Moldova | Vadim Pistrinciuc
  • The third powers and Georgia | Ekaterine Zguladze
  • The third powers and Armenia | Richard Giragosian
  • The third powers and Azerbaijan | Arzu Geybulla
• Conclusion: The new powers on the (eastern) block | Nicu Popescu and Stanislav Secrieru

• Alternative Source 1