Summary • Closer economic cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the Eurasian Economic Union(EEU; comprised of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan) is desirable. It can serve as a platform to overcome the current stalemate between Russia and the West, lift common neighbourhood countries from their unsustainable»in-between« status and enhance the well-being of all participants. • Engagement between the EU and the EEU can serve as an economic path to peacebuilding and should run in parallel to the political resolution of conflicts such as the Minsk II process. So far, the unresolved crisis in Ukraine has been the biggest political obstacle preventing a formal dialogue between the EU and the EEU. • EU-EEU dialogue could be a preliminary small step towards solving more complicated political crises in Europe. It has the potential to contribute to the establishment of a common and indivisible Euro­Atlantic and Eurasian security community as outlined by the OSCE Astana Declaration of 2010. ⁄ PER SPEC TIVE Engage! Alexandra Dienes 2nd edition April 2018 Why the European Union Should Talk with the Eurasian Economic Union