The eastern dimension of the European neighborhood policy: Eastern partnership and its effects on partner countries

The European Union implemented the European Neighborhood Policy in 2004 in order to conduct its relations with its 16 neighbors in a separate dimension, excluding the candidate and potential candidate countries located in the south and east as a result of the new borders it reached with the last great enlargement wave that started in 2004. For six of these countries in the east (Eastern European and Southern Caucasus countries), the Eastern Partnership initiative was launched in 2009, again within the scope of the European Neighborhood Policy, but as a special dimension. The aim of this thesis is to reveal the effects of the Eastern Partnership practices, which emerged as this special dimension, in the countries discussed from the beginning until 2020. The thesis study carried out for this purpose was prepared with a descriptive method and presented in the form of a document analysis revealed by compiling the main literature sources observing the due diligence foreseen in the official policy implementation documents and the effects and results of the actions taken. The study was prepared within the scope of three main sections; In the first part, the detailed content of the European Neighborhood Policy was examined, in the second part, the scope, implementation and structure of the Eastern Partnership as a special dimension of this policy were revealed, and in the third part, the practices and implementations specific to each Eastern Partnership country were presented. The European Union's approaches to some specific regional issues within the scope of the Eastern Partnership, as well as its actions and their effects, are evaluated. As a result of the study, it was concluded that this policy, which the European Union put into practice to create a circle of friends and a safe circle, did not have the expected effects in the Eastern Partnership dimension, and despite its approach to the priorities presented such as democracy, human rights and freedoms, the Union's own internal economic, social and political security was protected in practice. It has been determined that the actions taken within the scope of the Eastern Partnership have some positive effects in the partner countries, partially locally, but in general, the expected transformative effect has not been observed. Keywords: European Union, European Neighborhood Policy, Eastern Partnership, Eastern Europe, South Caucasus