Andrei Yahorau: Countries-members of Eastern Partnership need security strategy

In the situation when military threats are aggravated in the Eastern Partnership region the EU has to reassess its relations with the official Minsk.

On June 18-20 an International Conference on partnership for the European security took place in Vilnius. Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) together with the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence organized the conference.

Andrei Yahorau, the head of the Centre for European Transformation, took part in the event and shared the first results of the conference with the EuroBelarus Information Service.

- The main problems consist in challenges that the European security policy faces in the situation of Ukrainian crisis and in the protection mechanism for the countries of the Eastern Partnership. We are talking about potential threats that the Ukrainian crisis represents for other countries-members of the Eastern Partnership and about the steps that the EU can undertake to provide security for these countries. And we are not implying NATO here; in this case security has broader meaning – humanitarian aid, attractiveness of European model of development, and enhancement of the general welfare in Eastern Partnership countries.

- Did you receive the answer to the main question: can the EU guarantee security for the EaP countries?

- The participants of the conference claim that for now the EU doesn’t have an adequate answer to the challenges. We should urgently redefine European politics; countries-members of the EaP have concrete needs and expectations from the EU.

Ukrainian reporter emphasized that Russian actions have ruined European security system; so we need a new one, which would be able to resist military aggression.

EU regular sanctions are to be introduced as a way to respond to the possible aggression.

We need to codify safety rules for the Eastern Partnership countries, and this codification should be included in the pan-European safety system; this tool is not developed now.

Ukraine needs to upgrade its armed forces and provide military and technical assistance by means of lend-lease.

Ukraine needs both specific help with creation of a real border with Russia as well as safer borders. EU needs safer borders to be protected from illegal immigration, not from military aggression; that is why it is funding the formation of safer borders now.

We need to give respond to the hybrid war led by Russia in Ukraine. Not only the EU is responsible for that, but world community on the whole.

- What is the direction in which Eastern Partnership should be reformed? Did Conference raise this issue?

- Reporter from Georgia believes that Brussels is afraid of the word “geopolitics”. Meanwhile, Eastern Partnership is the geopolitical essence of the regional European politics. EaP has to reassess its geopolitical goals and tasks.

Eastern Partnership needs security strategy. Countries of the Visegrad Group suggest making EaP part of the common military formations.

- Which role does Belarus play in EaP security system? On the one hand, it is a part of the Eastern Partnership; but on the other – it is Russian ally…

- This problem wasn’t touched upon at the conference; so I will share my personal opinion about it.

Belarus shares a common border with the EU, and it would seem that Belarus is a part of the European security. However, it is disavowed by the fact that Belarus doesn’t react against Russian military actions and is, in fact, its political satellite. In the situation when military threats are aggravated in the Eastern Partnership region the EU has to reassess its relations with the official Minsk. There is a threat that relations with the most problematic EaP countries can be marginalized. EU can get isolated from them and limit its contacts with these countries.