Between hesitation and commitment: the EU and Georgia after the 2008 war

2010.

Di Puppo L.

One major repercussion of the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008 was a significant increase in the EU‟s presence in Georgia. With the launch of the Eastern Partnership in May 2009, the deployment of an EU monitoring mis-sion in Georgia and the EU‟s participation in the Geneva talks, EU-Georgian relations appear to have entered a new stage. The war has also affected Geor-gia‟s foreign policy priorities with the EU acquiring a new significance at the same time as the prospect of NATO integration has become more uncertain. This paper reviews the evolution of EU-Georgian relations since Georgia‟s independence and asks whether the post-war context has brought a change in the nature of these relations. First, it analyzes the relations before the Rose Revolution and the nature of the EU‟s engagement in Georgia. Second, it ex-amines the changes after the revolution, focusing in particular on the diverg-ing expectations of the EU and Georgia. Finally, it asks whether the post-war context has brought more convergence between the two actors.

Keywords: democratization, Eastern Partnership, EU-Georgia relations, Russian-Georgian war