In the run-up to the EU’s Eastern Partnership summit in Vilniusthis November, Russia is piling on the pressure on its western neighbors to prevent them from moving closer to the EU.
Through a combination of threats and incentives, the Kremlin is trying to keep Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova—all members of the Eastern Partnership—from signing an association agreement with the EU in Vilnius. That accord would offer the region substantial trade, economic, and investment benefits linked to political reforms.
The EU offers Western values and the perspective of greater access to the EU’s internal market but not the prospect of membership. The Kremlin’s cards, however, are very powerful: through energy and trade, Russia has a strong hold over all four countries.
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