Andreas Wittkowsky 1 Managing Director of the German Association of East European Studies (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde). THE“EASTERN PARTNERSHIP”: KEEPING ALL OPTIONS OPEN INTRODUCTION On 7 May 2009, the European Union’s Prague summit approved the“Eastern Partnership” with six countries neighbouring the EU in the East – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Based on the European Neighbourhood Policy(ENP) of 2004, and developing it further, the Partnership provides a new framework for the relations of the EU with these countries. The summit also mandated the European Commission to put the policy into practice. Over the year that it was in the making, the Partnership has been the object of various controversies. Within the EU not all member states were equally convinced of the merits of having a special policy towards the Union’s Eastern neighbours. But after the August war in Georgia a consensus emerged that the EU should“offer the maximum possible” to its Eastern neighbours with the intention to“bring a lasting political message of EU solidarity, alongside additional, tangible support for their democratic and market-oriented reforms and the consolidation of their statehood and territorial integrity. This serves the stability, security and prosperity of the EU, partners and indeed the entire continent” 2 . When announcing the proposal publicly, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner stressed that the Partnership “will offer more concrete support than ever before to encourage reforms that are essential to build peace, prosperity and security, in our mutual interest.” 3 1 Dr. Andreas Wittkowsky was born 1962. Dr. rer. pol., economist. Managing Director of the German Association of East European Studies(Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde). From 2001 to 2008 different functions in the European Union Pillar of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, Prishtina; from October 2006-08, Deputy Head of the EU Pillar . 2 Eastern Partnership. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, COM(2008) 823 final, Brussels, 3 December 2008, p. 1, 3 Benita Ferrero-Waldner: Eastern Partnership – an ambitious project for 21 st century European foreign policy. Brussels, 20 February 2009, http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/eastern/docs/eastern_partnership_article_bfw_en.pdf. 4