Georgia’s infor­mation environment has undergone a funda­mental shift. Pro-Russian influence opera­tions are no longer driven primarily by external actors, such as Kremlin-controlled media, but increas­ingly by domestic actors, including the Georgian Dream government. As a result, anti-Western disin­for­mation has entered Georgia’s political mainstream.

The EU candidate country is facing one of its deepest political crises in recent years. For more than a year, people have been taking to the streets in peaceful protest. At the same time, the Russia-leaning ruling party, Georgian Dream, has been hardening its course: repression against civil society, independent media, and the opposition is visibly intensifying.

EU accession negoti­a­tions with Ukraine are hitting struc­tural and political limits in times of war—both in Kyiv and in Brussels. Techno­cratic proce­dures and exclu­sively positive EU rhetoric undermine the necessary incen­tives for reform, analyzes Liubov Akulenko and proposes a Germany-led “coalition of the willing” to delib­er­ately advance blocked reforms through confi­dential dialogue.

As the European Union adjusts its policies in prepa­ration for a new round of enlargement, relations between Moldova and the European Union (EU) have entered a new stage of devel­opment. Natalia Stercul (Foreign Policy Associ­ation of the Republic von Moldova) analyses the situation.

Georgia is on the path to author­i­tarian consol­i­dation of power. The systematic restriction of civil society, political compe­tition, and freedom of assembly goes hand in hand with a foreign policy shift away from the EU. An analysis by Nino Chachava and Saba Bachveli (both: Civil Society Foundation, Georgia).

The parlia­mentary elections on September 28 will be historic in Moldova, even if the outcome is still uncertain. Various scenarios are possible: Will Moldova succeed in pushing ahead with EU accession as protection against a perceived threat from Russia? Much depends on how the population reacts to frustration and fears, as Denis Cenusa analyzes for us.

The parlia­mentary elections on September 28 will be historic in Moldova, even if the outcome is still uncertain. Various scenarios are possible: Will Moldova succeed in pushing ahead with EU accession as protection against a perceived threat from Russia? Much depends on how the population reacts to frustration and fears, as Denis Cenusa analyzes for us.

Despite the war, Ukraine is moving toward European Union membership at an unprece­dented pace. For its accession to succeed, it needs decisive support from the EU – and a solution to circumvent the ongoing blockades imposed by Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, Sergiy Solodkyy argues in his policy brief.

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.

Das EU-Beitrittsland Moldau steht weiterhin vor großen sicher­heit­spoli­tischen und wirtschaftlichen Heraus­forderungen. Unsere Expertin, Natalia Stercul, APE, analysiert die Hindernisse auf den europäischen Weg Moldaus, sowie die politische Lage nach dem Refer­endum und den Präsi­dentschaftswahlen. Ferner warnt sie vor der zunehmend steigenden Einflussnahme Russlands bei den kommenden Parla­mentswahlen in 2025, denn das Ergebnis der Parla­mentswahlen würde die EU-Integration des Landes maßge­blich mitbestimmen.

On 9 and 10 July, the Center for Liberal Modernity organized the inter­na­tional conference “EU Enlargement — a geopo­litical necessity and the next steps for the EU candidate states” with its partner organi­za­tions in Tbilisi, Georgia.

July 9–10: Center for Liberal Modernity in Tbilisi — inter­na­tional conference with our partner organi­za­tions aims at fostering collab­o­ration among civil society organi­za­tions from the eastern partner­ships and the Western Balkans and strenghten them on EU accession issues. Partic­i­pants will share their paths to EU membership, exchange best practices and develop joint initiatives.

On 14–15 December 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negoti­a­tions with the Republic of Moldova if progress can be made in imple­menting EU reforms, partic­u­larly in the Rule of Law. Since then, the Moldovan government has been contin­u­ously imple­menting the EU reforms. How should Moldova’s progress towards EU accession negoti­a­tions be assessed? What are the next steps in the EU integration process for Moldova? How can the EU and Germany support and accompany Moldova on its European path? 

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.

The danger of Russian aggression in the Republic of Moldova is real, comments Dymutru Minzarari. He proposes concrete steps for Germany and the EU to ensure effective support in the field of security policy.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine raises questions about the security of Eastern European countries seeking membership in the EU and NATO — especially Ukraine. Mykhailo Samus analyses the missing security dimension and necessary changes in Western security policy.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows Russia’s imperi­alist expan­sionist strategies, Georgia became a primary target of this power politics in 2008. Sergi Kapanadze describes what steps the West should take for a new and robust security strategy within the Eastern Partnership.

The second series of input papers for the project “Eastern Partnership Plus” deals with the question of the depen­dence of the three associated countries on energy imports and a better integration into the European energy market.

Die zweite Reihe der Input Papers des Projektes „Östliche Partner­schaft Plus“ beschäftigt sich mit der Frage nach der Abhängigkeit der drei assozi­ierten Länder von Energieim­porten und einer besseren Integration in den europäischen Energiebinnenmarkt.

The second series of input papers for the project “Eastern Partnership Plus” deals with the question of the depen­dence of the three associated countries on energy imports and a better integration into the European energy market.

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus” we publish a series of input papers on the topic: Per­spec­tives and Path­ways to EU Can­di­date Status for Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic...

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus” we publish a series of input papers on the topic: Per­spec­tives and Path­ways to EU Can­di­date Status for Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic...

As part of our project “Eastern Partnership Plus” we publish a series of input papers on the topic: Perspec­tives and Pathways to EU Candidate Status for Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic...

Moldova, a country in the heart of Europe, its current leadership and first and foremost its people, opened not only its borders but also their homes for the suffering neigh­bours. The...

The political crisis in Georgia continues after the municipal runoff elections. The close election result exacer­bates the polar­ization between the supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition...

On 22 October, the foundation stone for a new memorial to the 1941 massacre was laid in Odesa. The future memorial is the result of an initiative of the Centre for...

The consid­erable break­throughs in the EU-Ukraine economic agenda have been harmed by sluggish political devel­opment, partic­u­larly concerning the rule of law. The judicial reform, anti-corruption efforts, independent and efficient law-enforcement...

  On October 5, 2021, the Center Liberal Modernity held the public discussion on prior­ities for cooper­ation with Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova under the Eastern Partnership Plus project. The discussion...

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 this analyses Dmytro Shulga argues for the EU and specif­i­cally Germany to consider it’s own strategic gains in offering Ukraine a way to full EU membership over an extended amount...

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus”, we are pub­lish­ing a second series of input papers on the topic of Perspec­tives and Prior­ities European Green Deal (EGD) in Ukraine, Georgia...

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus”, we are pub­lish­ing a second series of input papers on the topic of Perspec­tives and Prior­ities European Green Deal (EGD) in Ukraine, Georgia...

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus”, we are pub­lish­ing a second series of input papers on the topic of Perspec­tives and Prior­ities European Green Deal (EGD) in Ukraine, Georgia...

As part of our project “Eastern Partnership Plus”, we are publishing a first series of input papers on the topic of anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The authors from...

As part of our project “Eastern Partnership Plus”, we are publishing a first series of input papers on the topic of anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The authors from...

As part of our project “Eastern Partnership Plus”, we are publishing a first series of input papers on the topic of anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The authors from...