Accelerated timeline for neighbourhood deals

March 06, 2020 / By mobanmarket

Accelerated timeline for neighbourhood deals

One message from the European Council was that Russian troops will not persuade the European Union’s leaders to break promises already made to the EU’s (and Russia’s) neighbours.

Click Here: All Blacks Rugby Jersey

Indeed, in the cases of Georgia and Moldova, the need to show solidarity with countries under pressure resulted in the EU’s leaders pledging to deliver early on its promises of completing association agreements.

Last autumn, when Georgia and Moldova were about to complete the preliminary – initialling – phase of the agreements, the EU said it intended to sign by this September, just before changes in the leadership of the European Commission. As Ukraine came under additional pressure from Russia in the winter, the EU said pens would be put to paper by August. Now, with Russian troops in Ukraine, the EU says the agreements will be completed by June.

The accelerated timeline might suggest that the EU is engaged in a race against the clock. The brutal reality, though, is that Georgia and Moldova would be easy prey for a Russian military that – as NATO’s top commander in Europe, Philip Breedlove, said this weekend (23 March) – has learnt from weaknesses identified during its invasion of Georgia in 2008.