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Iulia Monica OEHLER-ŞINCAI
Academia Română
The Eastern Partnership, encompassing EU’s relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, was launched in May 2009 as an “eastern dimension” of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Its declared objective is supporting the reform process in the six former Soviet republics on their way towards the market economy and their gradual integration into the EU economy. The Union’s goal, to consolidate a “stable, secure and prosperous area” at its eastern borders, is opposite to the efforts undertaken by the Russian Federation, in order to maintain its territorial dominance. On the one side, the EU is trying to push as eastern as possible the delineation of spheres of influence in the region, while on the other side, Russia has in view the re-entrance of the ex-Soviet republics in its own sphere of influence, as it managed to do with Belarus and Armenia. The third Eastern Partnership summit marked an obvious defeat of the EU in relationship with Russia, by the suspension of the preparations for signing the Association Agreement by Ukraine and, simultaneously, a new stage of Russia’s relations with the EU and US. The US entered with full force in the “geopolitical game” between the EU and Russia, trying to consolidate its military presence in the Black Sea and promote the shale gas exploration on an area as large as possible in Europe. How realistic are the US’s ambitions in the field of energy, let us see in the following years. Nevertheless, it is evident that the Ukrainian crisis deepened step by step during the last months, and the tensions on the two sides of the Russia - EU - USA triangle intensified. In the present paper, we intend to outline the deep significations of the Eastern Partnership, resorting to some statistical evidences, demonstrating that, in the actual context, the easing of the tensions in the EU and US’ relationship with the Russian Federation is not foreseeable in the near future.

ŒCONOMICA no. 1/2014
Keywords: EU, Russia, US, Ukraine, Eastern Partnership, Association Agreement, Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, energy security
JEL: F15, F21, F23, F34, F51, F53
Eastern Partnership – at the Delineation of the Spheres of Influence between West and East [Parteneriatul Estic – la linia de demarcaţie a sferelor de influenţă dintre Vest şi Est]