The EU has been promoting its interests in Eastern Europe by exporting its values and building more political and business links with the region, but the strategy has thus far not worked to the EU’s liking. This is mainly because most Eastern Partnership countries hope that the EU will eventually drop the values-based conditions and focus solely on interests such as trade and security. The EU’s actions have sometimes encouraged such expectations. However, this is a false choice: in practice, there is not much difference between the interests and values the EU aims to promote in the region. To make the Eastern Partnership an initiative worthy of its name, the EU should continue to promote both its interests and values in its Eastern neighbourhood, but it also needs to invest much more in cultivating new partners in the region.

Read more here.