The EU and Civil Society in Eastern Europe: Partners in the Pursuit of Policy Change?

Falkenhain, Mariella; Solonenko, Iryna

doi:10.5771/9783845235509-56

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…For instance, civil society actors, especially NGOs have become important agents of democratic reforms and political transformation in both countries. 65 As one example, youth grassroot movements in Georgia organized series of protests throughout 2019-2020 and successfully forced the government to make a number of political concessions including the adoption of a more democratic electoral legislation.…”

Section: Governance Institutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can the EU’s new global strategy make a difference? Strengthening resilience in the Eastern Partnership countries

2021

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This article assesses the European Union's (EU) performance in promoting societal resilience in the Eastern Partnership countries (EaP) on examples of Georgia and Ukraine. We examine two approaches to external resilience-building employed by the EU: support for the sources of societal resilience (social trust, legitimacy of governance actors, design of governance institutions) and prevention of domestic and external risks. Our research shows that while Ukraine and Georgia possess a moderate degree of societal resilience both countries also suffer from a high exposure to domestic and external risks, making them dependent on external resilience-building support from the EU. Analysis of the EU's resilience-building agenda in Georgia and Ukraine shows a mixed record for the EU. While the EU managed to strengthen sources of resilience and alleviate domestic risks in both countries, it failed to mitigate geopolitical risks: leaving the window open for new conflicts and endangering the sustainability of its resilience agenda.

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Section: Governance Institutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%