European Union Security Policy in the South Caucasus
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AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA EUROPEAN UNION SECURITY POLICY IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS By Anna Harutyunyan May 2014 Master’s Essay in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science and International Relations SIGNATURE PAGE Faculty Advisor Date Program Chair Date AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA May 2014 2 Acknowledgments There are many people without whom the conduction of the research would have been impossible.First and foremost, I would like to express my appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Syuzanna Vasilyan, Jean Monnet Chair of European Studies and Assistant Professor. Her constant efforts were invaluable for me. She guided me how to progress and structure my thoughts, as well as to keep improving. Apart from all, I would like to thank her for her patience with me, I am grateful for everything. I also want to thank our Program Chair Dr. Douglas Shumavon, for his willingness to help, and the program of Political Science and International Affairs (PSIA) inthe American University of Armenia for giving me this opportunity for undertaking this research. It was a great honor to become a part of this family. I thank the European Commission officials, both in Georgia and Armenia, for their readiness to share their knowledge and assist tremendously to my research. I would like to express my appreciation to Eva Pastrana, Attaché (Project Manager) Human Rights and Good Governance Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, to Dirk Lorenz, Counselor Head of Political, Economic, Press and Information Section Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, to Philip Shetler-Jones, Senior Analyst/ Head of Mission Analytical Capability, European Union Monitoring Mission, to Vano Chkhikvadze, Open Society Georgia Foundation Civil Society Program Coordinator and the Chairman ofthe Parliament's Committee on European Integration, as well as to Armen Baibourtian the Senior Adviser to the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative in Yerevan, who in the capacity of the Chief Negotiator with the European Union, led negotiations with the European Commission on the European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan from 2005 until 2006. 3 I am very grateful to my family and friends, whose constant thoughts were always with me. I am tremendously grateful and happy to have such a supporting family that assisted me in every step that I took. One of my great assets is my friends that made my life in AUA happy, bright and motivating. And finally I express my huge gratitude to Grisha Aghajanyan, in particular, for always supporting, motivating and just being with me.I am grateful to him for his care and attention and without him I would not be able to overcome this difficult time. Thank You for being beside me. 4 Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................ 14 Chapter One: EU Security Policy Objectives ................................................................................................................. 16 Armenia ................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Azerbaijan ............................................................................................................................................................... 21 Georgia .................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Progress of the South Caucasus from 2007 until 2013 ........................................................................................ 26 Chapter Two: The Impact of the European Union's Security Policy in the South Caucasus ........................................ 35 Chapter Three: Security Policy in terms of IR theories ................................................................................................. 47 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................... 53 References: ................................................................................................................................................................... 56 Appendix 1 .................................................................................................................................................................... 63 Appendix 2 .................................................................................................................................................................... 64 Appendix 3 .................................................................................................................................................................... 65 Appendix 4 .................................................................................................................................................................... 66 Appendix 5 .................................................................................................................................................................... 67 Appendix 6 .................................................................................................................................................................... 68 5 Introduction Problem Statement/ Importance of the Research After the collapse of the Soviet Union the South Caucasus became an area of concern. The European Union has become engaged in this area since the independence of the South Caucasian states in 1991. The armed conflicts which occurred in the South Caucasus in 1991-94, and the national security interests in the region prohibited major EU engagement on the political level. EU’s role in the region consists of political, economic, social and environmental aspects. The South Caucasus as a region is marked be deficit of security that is a potential threat for both the states of the region and its neighborhood, mainly the European Union. Regional destabilization might have a considerable impact on the wider security of the EU. The approach of the European Union towards the security considerations in the South Caucasus was first manifested in the European Security Strategy penned by Javier Solana in December 2003 under the title "A Secure Europe in a Better World". Though the EU borders the South Caucasus through the Black Sea, lacking direct a land border, the region is still perceived as a potential threat for the European security. It is stipulated by existence of unresolved regional conflicts and likelihood of a new war in the European neighborhood. The South Ossetia driven Russian- Georgian military conflict of August 2008 demonstrated this possibility. In addition, international crime and trafficking originated in the South Caucasus or just transiting through it constitute a continuous threat for the EU. Another prevailing factor is the need for diversification of energy resources for the EU and the role of the South Caucasus for production and transportation of hydrocarbons. Along with energy security, the role of trade, transport, and communications corridor should be highlighted on the background of the region’s 6 strategic location between Europe and Asia. The EU’s security priorities trigger shaping and implementation of relevant policy measures aimed at addressing mentioned factors. The EU through its numerous programs, mostly anchored on the Eastern Partnership, attempts to address security issues through some of the root causes of the region’s problems which include protractedconflicts, poor governance, organizedcrime and trafficking, and economic under-development enabling Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to integrate though at different speed and different depth into European political and economic processes. Content This research paper aims to interpret how the EU contributes to the security in the South Caucasian countries. The specific issues that the security policies of the EU and South Caucasian countries underline must be explained in the following chapters in order to understand the conceptual frameworks, the differences of approaches, importance of the region for the Union and eventually to analyze the EU’s security policy through an International Relations theory. The first chapter explains the European Union’s security policy through its numerous instruments and agreements with the region, taking into consideration the National Security Strategies of the EU and South Caucasian countries, later on the Progress Reports illustrate the efforts of the countries in order to meet the EU standards. In the end the analysis of the failed state index concludes the chapter. The second chapter is devoted to the allocations of the European Union to the numerous projects, related to the security policy in the region. Content analysis of the security strategies, documents, agreements and existing data, demonstrates the main security priorities defined for the European Union. Further the