THE ASSOCIATED TRIO IN ACTION SPECIAL REPORT | JULY 2021 https://eurac.tv/9TEj With the support of THE ASSOCIATED TRIO IN ACTION SPECIAL REPORT | JULY 2021 For Georgia, who last April initiated the Associated https://eurac.tv/9TEj Trio format with Ukraine and Moldova, the presence of Charles Michel at a summit of the three countries in Batumi on 19 July is perceived as a milestone. Until now the Trio initiative was met with suspicion in Brussels, because it changes the format of relations with the six former Soviet republics in the EU neigh- bourhood – Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Geor- gia and Azerbaijan. The six are packed together in the so-called Eastern Partnership, despite the fact that Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have Association agreements with the EU and are much more ambitious in terms of integration and even future membership of the Union. EURACTIV takes a closer look at the messages from Batumi. Contents Charles Michel heralds more EU involvement in the South Caucasus 4 Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova seek acceptance of their EU membership perspective 7 Georgia FM: We need a post-2020 Eastern Partnership 10 agenda perspective Associated Trio to ramp up cooperation on Black Sea 12 security Newer EU members support Associated Trio as ‘champions’ 14 4 SPECIAL REPORT | THE ASSOCIATED TRIO IN ACTION | EURACTIV Charles Michel heralds more EU involvement in the South Caucasus By Georgi Gotev | EURACTIV.com Council President Charles and the President of Georgia Michel Salome Zourabishvili in Batumi on 19 July 2021. [Council Newsroom] uropean Council President Azerbaijan and Armenia fought post-conflict settlement. The OSCE Charles Michel will attend a war last autumn over Nagorno- Minsk Group was created in 1992 Ea regional summit in the Karabakh which claimed some 6,500 by the Conference on Security and Georgian Black Sea city of Batumi lives and ended with a Russian- Cooperation in Europe and is co- on Monday (19 July), after a weekend brokered ceasefire under which chaired by France, Russia and the visit of Armenia and Azerbaijan, in Yerevan ceded territories it had United States. what appears as an attempt to keep controlled for decades. But the Minsk Group has been the region closer to the EU. EURACTIV largely inactive since the ceasefire. reports from Batumi. Tensions have been running high Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev again since May — when Armenia had insisted that “the Karabakh After his personal efforts to help accused Azerbaijan’s military of conflict has been resolved for good” solve the internal political crisis in crossing its southern border — with and has rejected Yerevan’s calls to Georgia, described by some as risky, both countries reporting occasional negotiate on the region’s political Michel took another challenge by shootouts along their shared border. status. involving the EU in new mediation efforts between Armenia and Michel, who was in Armenia on HONEST BROKER Azerbaijan to settle the Nagorno- Saturday, called on the so-called Minsk Karabakh conflict. Group “to assume its responsibilities Previous EU positions have always and address different topics” of the been that no duplication was needed Continued on Page 5 SPECIAL REPORT | THE ASSOCIATED TRIO IN ACTION | EURACTIV 5 Continued from Page 4 that it was not a Brussels invention, and that the proper body to manage From Baku Michel flew to Batumi a diplomat said. In his words, the conflict was the OSCE. where he is expected to attend a initiatives to keep pro-EU attitudes meeting of the Presidents of Georgia, alive in the region appear once every Ukraine and Moldova later on Monday. five years, the latest one being the visa The meeting marks a rapprochement liberalisation scheme. But in the lack between the three countries, which of new initiatives from Brussels, the share a common desire to join the EU. region came up with its own plan, the diplomat said. The summit, hosted by the President of Georgia Salome However, the Trio initiative also Zourabishvili, coincides with has its internal problems. Probably the annual Batumi International the biggest is Ukraine’s agreement to Conference, a high point in Georgia’s host Mikheil Saakashvili, the former foreign affairs agenda. President of Georgia and leader of the country’s major opposition force, the According to diplomats, what United National Movement (UNM) of made the Trio summit possible was Georgia. the outstanding victory of the pro- Speaking alongside Azeri European forces in Moldova last Saakashvili left Georgia in President Ilham Aliyev, Michel said Sunday. 2013 a year after his party lost a that among the issues on which parliamentary election, and was the EU could provide expertise are charged and sentenced in 2017 in the exchange of prisoners and the For Georgia, who last April absentia, on charges of abuse of availability of mine maps, which initiated the Associated Trio format, public office and corruption. He were partly resolved, but also the the presence of Charles Michel at such now lives in Ukraine, which has no delimitation of borders, for which gathering would be a major blessing, extradition agreement with Georgia. he said “we are ready to provide diplomats told EURACTIV. There, Saakashvili is popular and is European expert assistance and, if still seen as a pro-Western reformer. necessary and desired, European Until now the Trio initiative monitoring”. was met with suspicion in Brussels, UNM keeps boycotting because it changes the format of international efforts at solving the relations with the six former Soviet internal Georgian crisis, spearheaded republics in the EU neighbourhood – by Charles Michel. Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Diplomats said that a lot of work had been needed to prepare the visit The six are packed together in the of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr so-called Eastern Partnership, despite Zelenskiy to Batumi, and that details the fact that Ukraine, Moldova and of the programme kept changing by Georgia have Association agreements the hour. with the EU and are much more ambitious in terms of integration As an example, instead of a and even future membership of the discussion between the Presidents Union. moderated by journalist Rikard Jozwiak, the Presidents will only NOT A BRUSSELS pronounce speeches. He added that there was also the INVENTION issue of the armed forces located close A high point of the meeting of the to the disputed areas, which in his Another reason why the EU was three Presidents and Charles Michel words should also be discussed. suspicious of the Trio initiative is is expected to take place in the Petra Continued on Page 6 6 SPECIAL REPORT | THE ASSOCIATED TRIO IN ACTION | EURACTIV Continued from Page 5 fortress, south of Batumi. In the 6th century, under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, the Petra fortress served as an important Eastern Roman outpost in the Caucasus and, due to its strategic location, became a battleground of the 541–562 Lazic War between Rome and Sasanian Persia, the ancient version of today’s Iran. SPECIAL REPORT | THE ASSOCIATED TRIO IN ACTION | EURACTIV 7 Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova seek acceptance of their EU membership perspective By Georgi Gotev | EURACTIV.com The signature of the Declaration of the Associated Trio at the fortress of Petra, on 19 July 2021. [Council Newsroom] summit between Georgia, Launched in 2008, the Eastern But the Trio doesn’t want to be held Ukraine and Moldova in the Partnership governs the EU’s back by the other three members of A Georgian Black Sea city of relationship with six post-Soviet states, the EaP, which they perceive as having Batumi culminated on Monday (19 including Georgia, Moldova, and different agendas: Armenia, Azerbaijan, July) with the signature of a declaration Ukraine. and Belarus. calling for the EU to acknowledge the perspective of these countries to become One of the highlights of the summit full EU members one day. EURACTIV was the speech given by European reports from Batumi. Council President Charles Michel, in which he saluted the Trio summit as “an The summit declaration, signed by important milestone”. the Presidents Salome Zourabishvili (Georgia), Volodymyr Zelenskiy “We welcome the Trio’s initiative (Ukraine) and Maia Sandu (Moldova), to foster coordination between is a further step in the emancipation the associated partners and with of the three associated members of the Brussels. This can lead to the sharing Eastern Partnership (EaP). of best practices on reforms, on Continued on Page 8 8 SPECIAL REPORT | THE ASSOCIATED TRIO IN ACTION | EURACTIV Continued from Page 7 implementation, and on broader Michel reminded that the EU He said that the Associated agenda for the future,” said Michel, to created the EaP 12 years ago, saying agreements with the three countries the delight of his hosts. the partnership is now a reality that had boosted trade for as much as 45% benefits all citizens of the countries in some cases, and that the free trade Up to now, the EU was wary of concerned and of the EU. area they create can deliver more, endorsing an initiative which did making them able to compete on the not come from Brussels. But the EU Regarding the upcoming EaP global market. now no longer avoids using the “Trio” summit in December in Brussels, he expression, despite ongoing tensions said the EU would remain a strong Michel described as “impressive” in Georgia and Ukraine where Michel and reliable partner for the region, the results of visa liberalisation acts as a mediator. but that it counts on the countries’ between Georgia, Ukraine and commitment to advance reforms – Moldova. He said that more than In his speech at the summit, “not to please Brussels, but in the half a million of their citizens have Michel, who appears to have interest of your own people and your benefitted from visa-free travel so far, developed a personal affinity for the own societies”.