There is a risk that the European Partnership (EaP) is split between those that have an Association Agreement and those that don’t -- Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus, Spanish analyst Jos Boonstra, Head of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia programme at FRIDE told Armenian News – NEWS.am. 

According to him, there have been some positive results in the EaP but the challenges remain manifold.

“Here are four of them. First: Whereas the signed association agreements with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are a positive development there is also a risk that the EaP is split between those that have an association agreement and those that don’t -- Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. The EU will need to include Armenia and others on their own merit and on a bilateral basis that is beneficial to both so more flexibility. Second:  the EU will need more membership involvement and backing to assure that it can deliver what it promises. The EU fell short in its reaction to the Ukraine crisis two years ago after the Vilnius summit and needs to understand that the European development perspective remains highly attractive among the Eastern European populations. Third, the EU will need to rethink its multilateral approach and only engage in regional projects with countries that are genuinely interested; less talk shops and more concrete results. Lastly the EU will need to work more with and through EU and EaP countries civil societies. The EU needs to approach East European societies at large,” Boonstra said, noting that speeding up visa liberalization is an important element here.