Repression is inten­si­fying in Georgia: following an attempt to introduce a Russian-inspired foreign agents law, targeted attacks on civil society, protesters, and independent media have ensued. Civic space is increas­ingly being restricted – through surveil­lance, legal crack­downs, and the targeted perse­cution of critical voices. To withstand this crucial fight for democracy, Georgian civil society now urgently needs clear and decisive support from Europe. Ivane Chkhik­vadze from the Civil Society Foundation analyzes this escalation and outlines concrete expec­ta­tions towards the EU.

Ukraine’s membership bid taken on real momentum since the country applied for EU membership in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Though Ukraine’s track record is generally positive, the devil is in the details. Difficult reforms, especially in the judiciary, require the attention and support of the EU and its member states.

Georgia’s democracy is on the brink of collapse following the fraud­ulent parlia­mentary elections in October 2024 and the violent crackdown by the ruling regime under the Georgian Dream party. In his policy brief, Sergi Kapanadze analyses how the country’s pro-European course has been derailed by systematic election manip­u­lation and repression. His analysis includes concrete recom­men­da­tions for the inter­na­tional community and a call to act now.

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine also has far-reaching conse­quences for Moldova. Security expert Dumitru Minzarari analyzes the effects of Russian propa­ganda, political impli­ca­tions of the war in the run-up to the presi­dential elections, and the obstacles on the path to EU integration.

It is remarkable that Ukraine is making progress in imple­menting 7 EU Commission prior­ities despite Russia’s ongoing war of aggression. In his policy brief, Leonid Litra empha­sises why the EU enlargement and deepening process should take place simul­ta­ne­ously and argues why the EU should start accession negoti­a­tions with Ukraine this year.

On the 8th of November the European Commission will for the first time ever present an enlargement report with recom­men­da­tions on Georgia. A few weeks later, the European Council will take a political decision on whether Georgia will be granted candidate status or will have to wait until autumn 2024. In his policy brief, Ivane Chkhik­vadze analyses the current state of EU reforms and makes concrete recom­men­da­tions for action.

The Moldovan expert, Denis Cenusa, analyses in his polcy brief that the Republic of Moldova has made progress in imple­menting the 9 prior­ities of the EU Commission, but also points out the obstacles and short­comings, especially in the area of the judiciary and the fight against corruption. Never­theless, he recom­mends that, given the geopo­litical and strategic reasons, the EU should start accession negoti­a­tions with Ukraine and Moldova as well as with Georgia in December 2023.

This policy brief gives an overview of the current state of the Ukrainian energy system and the challenges that emerged because of the war, but also the chances for the sustainable recon­struction of the energy sector. In order to modernise the economy on a sustainable basis Ukraine needs signif­icant private invest­ments. At the same time, the large-scale recon­struction of the energy sector offers oppor­tu­nities for German and EU companies to partic­ipate in the “green” devel­opment of the Ukrainian economy.

The EU wants to promote the rule of law in Ukraine, but what external measures are needed to achieve this and what are the Ukrainian realities? This is analyzed by Maryna Rabinovych in the LibMod policy paper.

The EU must become an autonomous foreign policy actor and use its enlargement policy to address the challenges posed by Russia’s aggression. A Policy Paper by Laure Delcour and Kataryna Wolczuk.

In the LibMod Policy Paper: Assessment of progress in the fight against corruption in the EU-associated states of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, our author Dr. Khatia Kikalishvili argues that insufficient...

In the LibMod-Policy-Paper: Towards a European Climate Diplomacy, Dr. Georg Zachmann analyses the extension of the European Green Deal to the three associated states of the EU (Ukraine, Georgia and the...

Online-Panel Discussion on October 6, 2020, with Gunther Krichbaum, Johannes Schraps, Renata Alt, Manuel Sarrazin und others.

The paper ‘From status quo to status reform: Accountable Gover­nance in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova’ argues that greater priority should be attached to the rule of law and democ­ratic governance...

In the LibMod policy paper: “The Eastern Partner­ship’s Missing Security Dimension” Gustav C. Gressel analyses the precarious security situation in the three EU associate countries and sheds light on EU...