Cooperation between the EU and EaP States 10 Years Later: What Lies Ahead?: Page 3 of 7

have been in the Euro-Atlantic structures for 15 years already), whose (at least) geographical affiliation with Europe cannot be doubted. We (the South Caucasian countries) are located somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and therefore we constantly have to prove the legitimacy of our claims for membership to the European family of nations, and our "usefulness" for the West. And the requirements from Georgians are higher than, say, Moldovans (with no offense intended).

Arif Mammadov - Specifically, the EU is interested in Azerbaijan primarily as a supplier of energy resources to ensure the EU energy security. The Azerbaijani authorities are also interested in cooperation specifically in the field of energy, trying to minimize cooperation in the field of human rights, democracy, and most importantly, to limit access to the domestic market for goods and services from the EU. There is no branch of a single European bank in Azerbaijan. Everything (from oil to banks) is in the hands of the ruling family. The authorities are doing everything possible to minimize transparency at customs, as this is where most frauds are carried out. There are big problems with the comprehensive partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan. The authorities actually blocked the access to information on the negotiation process for the opposition and the society as a whole. Unfortunately, the EU is turning a blind eye, guided primarily by interests, rather than value principles.

Hennadyi Maksak – The domestic motivation for integration in Ukraine comes, first of all, from the society. I would like to remind that it was V. Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the Association Agreement at the time that led to the beginning of the collapse of his regime in Ukraine. It is a fact that most domestic reforms related to the implementation of the Association Agreement were largely due to the pressure or articulated demands of the society.

Boris Navasardyan – Our views of Europe contain a combined image of prosperous life, social guarantees, protected rights, well-off life, and access to the highest cultural achievements of the humankind ... Due to the spread of anti-Western propaganda, and partly because of real challenges posed by the essence of Europeanism described above, its attractiveness has slightly decreased even in European, or at least in the Armenian society. This applies even to the motivation for upcoming or past emigration to EU countries: among numerous incentives voiced in the past, the prevalent incentive of the day is the chance of a relatively comfortable life.

Ivlian Haindrava – The (incumbent and former) authorities and the opposition (present and past) use the theme of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration to accuse each other of all mortal sins after the following scheme: we are real Atlantists, and you are serving the interests of the Kremlin. That is the whole discourse, and apparently, our Western partners feel tired of it too. They have already started to openly urge the parties to stop the catfight at least on this issue. Our political culture, however, leaves much to be desired. Yet, political culture in the EU is also not on the rise either