The European Union’s policy of conflict resolution towards all the three South Caucasian conflicts

Abstract

South Caucasus during the last 25 years was mainly associated with “frozen conflicts”. The region remains war-torn in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Despite the efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU) and other international and non-governmental organizations to peacefully handle the situation, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia have not yet come up with a security framework that will satisfy all the three states. 2004 enlargement has brought the EU borders closer to the volatile South Caucasus. Recognition of growing significance of the South Caucasus is reflected in the EU’s gradual engagement with the region, particularly with regard to conflict resolution. In February 2001 the General Affairs and External Relations Council declared that the EU was willing to play more active role in the South Caucasus, stating that it would seek ways of lending its support “to prevent and resolve conflicts” and assist in post-conflict rehabilitation. Deepening EU engagement with the three countries of the South Caucasus was demonstrated by the appointment of the Union’s Special Representative for the region in 2003 and the inclusion of the three states in the European Neighborhood policy. This thesis seeks to investigate the interests of the EU in engagement with the South Caucasian conflicts. More specifically, it wants to discover whether the EU is acting in the South Caucasus through conflict resolution to promote peace and democracy or it is circumvented by energy and power related interests. After conducting discourse analyses and assessing the liberalist IR viewpoints, the thesis’ central findings confirm the liberal motives of the EU in engagement with South Caucasian conflicts. That is, the EU acts in the South Caucasus through conflict resolution to promote peace and stability, democracy and respect of human rights.