The EU’s “Democracy Promotion” Policies in Ukraine and Georgia: Is it a Normative Cover in front of the EU-Russia Tug-of-Love?

The EU democracy promotion literature mainly focuses either on its ways and tools in promoting democracy with successes and failures, or on the role of authoritarian actors with countervailing measures in impeding on the democratization paths of target states. Yet, a rare of studies examines what the EU actually promotes and with which underlying motivations. This article suggests that the EU democracy promotion is not just an outcome of bilateral relations between the EU and target states but an outcome of interdependent strategic interests of the EU, target country and illiberal regional power. Thus, it is shaped by not only the EU’s normative ideals and local needs as it declared but mostly the interrelated clash of interests between different actors in the region. The main argument of this study is that the EU’s differentiated democracy promotion agendas in target countries, which are very similar in terms of their local contexts or in the same region, stems from the presence of illiberal regional power(s), who has certain actorness in that region. Based upon this argument, this study explores the EU’s differentiated democracy promotion agendas in Ukraine and Georgia and the role of illiberal regional power -here Russia-, who has certain leverage over these states. By examining the periodical differentiation EU’s democracy promotion agendas towards Ukraine and Georgia, it concludes that the EU has changed its democracy promotion agendas depending on the changes in bilateral relations between Russia and Ukraine/Georgia.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

EU democracy promotion policies, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, illiberal regional power, EU Democracy Promotion Policies, Illiberal Regional Power., Illiberal Regional Power

The EU’s “Democracy Promotion” Policies in Ukraine and Georgia: Is it a Normative Cover in front of the EU-Russia Tug-of-Love?

Keywords:

EU Democracy Promotion Policies, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Illiberal Regional Power,

PDF

___

Ambrosio, Thomas. Authoritarian Backlash: Russian Resistance To Democratization In The Former Soviet Union. Reprint, Farnham: Ashgate, 2009.
Ayers, Alison J. "“We All Know A Democracy When We See One”: (Neo)Liberal Orthodoxy In The ‘Democratisation’ And ‘Good Governance’ Project". Policy And Society 27, no. 1 (2008): 1-13. doi:10.1016/j.polsoc.2008.07.001.
Babayan, Nelli. "The Return Of The Empire? Russia’s Counteraction To Transatlantic Democracy Promotion In Its Near Abroad."". Democratization 22, no. 3 (2015): 438-458.
Carothers, Thomas. "Democracy Assistance: The Question Of Strategy". Democratization 4, no. 3 (1997): 109-132.
Chen, Dingding, and Katrin Kinzelbach. "Democracy Promotion And China: Blocker Or Bystander?". Democratization 22, no. 3 (2015): 400-418.
de Ridder, Eline. "Addressing The Remnants Of A Communist Past Through Accession: Slovakia And The Czech Republic". In The Substance Of EU Democracy Promotion: Concepts And Cases, 71-84. Anne Wetzel and Jan Orbie. Reprint, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
“ENP Action Plans". EEAS - European Commission. Accessed 19 December 2020. https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_nn/8398/%20ENP%20Action%20Plans.
European Commission, "Evaluation Of The European Union's Co-Operation With Georgia (2007-2013)", Final Report Volume I (Freiburg, 2015), https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/financial_assistance/phare/evaluation/2016/20160927-geo-cse-volume-1-to-3.pdf
European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), Democracy abroad: Different European approaches to supporting democracy: A comparative review of the democracy support policies of different European states, Brussels, March 2019, available at: https://epd.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Democracy-Abroad-Different-European-Approaches-to-Supporting-Democracy.pdf
European Union: European Commission, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: Eastern Partnership, COM(2008)823, Brussels 3rd December 2008, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2008/EN/1-2008-823-EN-F1-1.Pdf
European Union: The Council of European Union, Extraordinary European Council, 1 September 2008: Presidency Conclusions, Brussels 6th October 2008, available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/102545.pdf
European Union: The Council of European Union, Council Conclusions on Democracy Support in the EU’ s External Relations, Brussels, 17 November 2009, available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/gena/111250.pdf
Hout, Wil. "Governance And Development: Changing EU Policies". Third World Quarterly 31, no. 1 (2010): 1-12.
Ingelhart, Ronald, and Christian Welzel. "How Development Leads To Democracy". Foreign Affairs 88, no. 2 (2009): 33-48.
Kotzian, Peter, Michèle Knodt, and Sigita Urdze. "Instruments Of The EU's External Democracy Promotion". JCMS: Journal Of Common Market Studies 49, no. 5 (2011): 995-1018. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5965.2010.02163.x.
Kurki, Milja. "Democracy And Conceptual Contestability: Reconsidering Conceptions Of Democracy In Democracy Promotion". International Studies Review 12, no. 3 (2010): 362-386.
Kurki, Milja. "How The EU Can Adopt A New Type Of Democracy Support" 112, no. (2012). https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/143626/WP_112_democracy_support.pdf.
Linz, Juan J. (Juan Jose), and Alfred C. Stepan. "Toward Consolidated Democracies". Journal Of Democracy 7, no. 2 (1996): 14-33. doi:10.1353/jod.1996.0031.
Merkel, Wolfgang. "Embedded And Defective Democracies". Democratization 11, no. 5 (2004): 33-58. doi:10.1080/13510340412331304598.
President Of Russia, "Russia-Abkhazia Agreement On Alliance And Strategic Partnership Submitted To State Duma", available at: http://en.kremlin.ru/catalog/countries/XA/events/47288, Accessed 23 February 2022
Reyneart, Vicky. "Democracy Through The Invisible Hand? Egypt And  Tunisia". In The Substance Of EU Democracy Promotion: Concepts And Cases, 149-161. Anne Wetzel and Jan Orbie. Reprint, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Risse, Thomas. "Conclusions: Towards Transatlantic Democracy Promotion?". In Promoting Democracy And The Rule Of Law: American And European Strategies, 244-271. Thomas Risse, Amichai Magen and Michael A. McFaul. Reprint, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
Tolstrup, Jakob. "Black Knights And Elections In Authoritarian Regimes: Why And How Russia Supports Authoritarian Incumbents In Post-Soviet States". European Journal Of Political Research 54, no. 4 (2014): 673-690
van den Berg, Margietus. “Aid effectiveness and corruption in developing countries,” EU Parliamentary debates, 6 April 2006, Strasbourg, available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20060406+ITEM-005+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN&query=INTERV&detail=4-026
Vanderhill, Rachel. "Active Resistance To Democratic Diffusion". Communist And Post-Communist Studies 50, no. 1 (2017): 41-51.
Wetzel, Anne, and Jan Orbie. "The EU’S Promotion Of External Democracy: In Search Of The Plot". CEPS Policy Brief 281 (2012).
Wetzel, Anne, and Jan Orbie. The Substance Of EU Democracy Promotion: Concepts And Cases. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Yakouchyk, Katsiaryna. "The Good, The Bad, And The Ambitious: Democracy And Autocracy Promoters Competing In Belarus". European Political Science Review 8, no. 2 (2015): 195-224.
Youngs, Richard, and Kateryna Pishchikova. "A More Pluralist Approach To European Democracy Support". Reprint, Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2010. https://carnegieendowment.org/files/euro_dem_supp1.pdf.