Partnerstwo Wschodnie po 10 latach: sukces czy porażka, realizm czy iluzja?

Abstract

It has been ten years since Poland and Sweden proposed the Eastern Partnership project, which was subsequently adopted on 7 May 2009 by the EU Council at the Prague Summit as the official policy of the European Union. It is a component of the broader EU foreign policy – the European Neighbourhood Policy, which was created in 2004. During this time, the EU has developed many forms of dialogue and cooperation with the six countries covered by the programme. Half of the countries have signed and started to implement new agreements to strengthen their relations. However, the Eastern Partnership is currently undergoing a serious test. Today, the biggest challenge of fundamental importance is the ongoing armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea by Russia, which is a sign of a return to geopolitics in the region. These events have significantly changed the outlook and conditions under which the Eastern Partnership is implemented. Therefore, it is worth trying to answer a few research questions: has the Partnership proved to be a useful tool for attracting beneficiary countries to the EU? Have the initial and long-term objectives been achieved? Finally, is the project worth strengthening and continuing? The article will analyse the specificity of the programme, including strategic goals and their evolution, and attempt to assess the implementation of assumptions and instruments from the point of view of the research approach, which is the transformational power of the EU.