Black Sea Synergy: Success or Failure for the European Union?

Özet

Black Sea Region has been extensively on the agenda of the European Union (EU) since Romania andBulgaria’s membership in 2007. In 2008 the EU created “Black Sea Synergy” as a regional initiative inorder to develop cooperation in the region in certain areas such as energy, transport and environment.Countries that take part in the Black Sea Synergy, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraineare also part of “Eastern Partnership” which is another initiative simultaneously established with “BlackSea Synergy” as a part of the wider policy “European Neighbourhood Policy” (ENP). Besides someEU member states, Turkey, an official candidate country to the EU since 1999, and Russia, a so-calledstrategic partner of the EU are significant actors in the “Black Sea Synergy” initiative although theyare not included in ENP. The initiative comprises various common practices with similar initiativesof the EU, such as providing financial assistance, supporting economic development and stability aswell as encouraging economic and democratic reforms. Although the EU attempts to take initiative insolving the conflicts and increase security in the region, it has significant deficiencies in conductingthese policies as the literature indicates. This article aims to analyse the “Black Sea Synergy” in light ofthe recent developments regarding Turkey’s deteriorating relations with the EU and Russia’s annexationof Crimea and destabilization of Eastern Ukraine. The article attempts to answer “to what extent dothese developments affect “Black Sea Synergy”? and argues that, although the “Black Sea Synergy” isan initiative mainly comprising technical projects in some key sectors, the crisis in Ukraine and therelations between Turkey and the EU have exacerbated the “challenge” confronted by the EU in termsof implementing the objectives of the initiative. Obviously the political development of the “Black SeaSynergy” continues to be dependent on reciprocal relations between the EU, Russia and Turkey in lightof the current events. However the technical character of the Black Sea Synergy has the potential tomaintain the contacts between the partners despite the political disagreements among them. All in all,a cooperative environment with Turkey and Russia will provide a common ground for achieving theEU’s general objectives in the Black Sea region despite the prevalence of structural deficiencies of theEU as a foreign policy actor.