European Forum

Possible Withdrawal of EU special representatives in Moldova and South Caucasus

In an EU ambassadors meeting held on 28 May a proposal has been made to abolish the posts of EU special representatives in Moldova and the Southern Caucasus. This idea was outlined in a letter written by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton at 21 May in which she discussed the reorganisation of the current structure of EU envoys. Many member states are surprised by this suggestion.

A withdrawal of the EU special representatives would mean a decrease of EU representation in Moldova and the Southern Caucasus and also a limiting of access for these regions to Brussels. In the case of Moldova it would mean that they would depend largely on their EU neighbour Romania to communicate with Brussels. The overall signal is that the EU has a waning interest in these countries. Ashton only talks about removal of the EU special representative posts in Eastern Europe, but the representatives in Africa and Central-Asia remain active.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus have reacted with disbelief. Last week they met with the European Union to discuss the Eastern Partnership and they were assured that Eastern Europe and the relations with its neighbours remained top priority. Until now an official statement has not been published by the EU or the two EU special representatives in the countries involved, Kalman Mizsei for Moldova and Peter Semneby for the Southern Caucasus.

Sources: RFE/RL