POLICY PAPER | How can the EU Find New Ways to Engage in Security and Defense Cooperation with Eastern Partnership Countries?

Since Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008, Russia has been employing an increasingly aggressive strategy towards its post-Soviet neighbours. During the crisis it sought to destabilize Georgia’s separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and Georgia was also the target of cyber-attacks and campaigns disinformation by Russia. The war only prompted weak reactions from the European Union[1]. Similarly, the March 2014 Russian military incursion in the eastern Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine provoked a mild reaction from the EU. The rounds of sanctions only had a limited effect on the Russian regime[2]. These two experiences lead the Kremlin to believe that they could restore Russia’s old sphere of influence in post-Soviet countries with total impunity and receive only a weak reaction from the West.

Similarly to Georgia, Moldova faces the challenge posed by a break-away region, Transnistria, where Russian-speaking separatists are backed by Russia. The war in Ukraine magnified the vulnerability of Transnistria to attacks by Russia, as strategically, it represents a way to cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea and weaken its economy. Russia keeps hold on the region by keeping on its soil a permanent force of 1,500 troops and around 20,000 tonnes of Soviet-era military equipment[3]. It is not unlikely it could target Moldova through covert hybrid warfare or through a full-blown military invasion[4] The Moldovan defence ministry has recently admitted it would lack the necessary military equipment and training of troops to face Russian aggression[5].