The EU and Civil Society in the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict

This paper deals with the role of the EU in supporting civil society in the case of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. It analyses the patterns of development of civil society actors that played a direct or indirect role in the development of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. In the case of Georgia the paper focuses on NGOs representing the interests of internally displaced persons and civil society players involved in promoting dialogue with the Abkhaz. In the case of Abkhazia, the paper focuses on the development of Abkhaz civil society, the relative strength of which is a mini-phenomenon in itself, as well as the Abkhaz approaches to dialogue with Georgia. The paper then outlines the main EU activities vis-à-vis the civil society actors on both sides of the conflict. The paper concludes that in the absence of strong EU political engagement in conflict-resolution, EU assistance to civil society could not prevent the re-escalation of the conflict and the radicalisation of the Abkhaz and Georgian societies. However EU assistance to civil society contributed to the (parallel and separate) strengthening of civil society on both sides of the conflict lines, which can be considered an achievement in itself, however modest.

The Resistance of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) From the Eastern Natural Limit of Species to Climate Change

In this study, different approaches were used to investigate the vulnerability of beech forests, located at the eastern limit of their natural range, to climate change. To accomplish this, six 2500 m2 plots were sampled in four European beech forest genetic resources, located in Romania at different altitudinal levels, varying from 230 to 580 m in the Bacău hills and between 650 and 1300 m in the Curvature Carpathian (Braşov region). The analysis of trees phenotypic traits, their radial growth, and the regeneration, did not indicate a vulnerability of the sampled stands to the fluctuations of the environmental factors from the 1950-2014 period. The growth indices of all three populations of Bacău hills are negatively correlated with both June air temperature of current year and September of the previous year. The precipitation amount of September previous year positively influenced the growth indices. The radial growth of plots in Braşov region is slightly linked to the climate. The temperature during the growing season represents a limiting factor for stands that are located outside of the optimal altitudinal species distribution (600-1200 m, in Romania), especially at low altitudes. Our results indicated that a rise of the temperature accompanied by a possible reduction of the precipitations (as is predicted for the coming years) could increase the sensibility of beech forests at lower altitude

Boundary Control by Boundary Observer for Hyper-redundant Robots

The control problem of a class of hyper-redundant arms with continuum elements, with boundary measuring and control is discussed. First, the dynamic model of the continuum arm is presented. The measuring systems are based on the film sensors that are placed at the terminal sub-regions of the arm. The observers are proposed in order to reconstruct the full state of the arm. A back-stepping method is used to design a boundary control algorithm. Numerical simulations of the arm motion toward an imposed position are presented. An experimental platform shows the effectiveness of the proposed methods

Europe's unrecognised Neighbours: The EU in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. CEPS Working Document, No. 260, 15 March 2007

The EU can do little to achieve its policy objectives in its Eastern neighbourhood without facing the issue of secessionist conflicts. This paper deals with EU policy towards Georgia and the secessionist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It discusses the reasons for and constraints on EU policies, their effects and perception in the secessionist entities. The paper concludes with recommendations on how the EU can contribute to conflict resolution in Georgia through a greater inclusion of the conflict regions into the European Neighbourhood Policy

Re-setting the Eastern Partnership in Moldova. CEPS Policy Brief No. 199, 4 November 2009

If EU leaders are looking for ways to make the Eastern Partnership successful, there are worse places to start than Moldova. Recent elections brought to power a four-party Alliance for European Integration, making the country the only post-Soviet state (aside from the Baltics) in the last ten years where the transfer of power took place via elections. Moreover, in terms of trade, its dependence on the EU is also greater than that of any other post-Soviet state and its support for European integration is the highest in the region. It also shares a language and a history with Romania (an EU member state), and due to migration flows and geography, it has the highest intensity of people-to-people interaction with the EU compared to the other former Soviet states. The country could serve as a laboratory for a different sort of European neighbourhood policy – a partnership that is more effective, more attuned to local needs and that gives palpable benefits for both the EU and its partners. Certainly, a successful EU policy on Moldova will not on its own transform the entire neighbourhood, but it could be a template for a more effective EU policy towards other post-Soviet states like Georgia, Armenia or Ukraine

'Outsourcing' de facto Statehood: Russia and the Secessionist Entities in Georgia and Moldova. CEPS Policy Brief 109, July 2006

This paper attempts to map Russia’s policies towards the conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. The first part discusses Russia’s role in the conflicts during the 1990s and gives some background information on the secessionist conflicts in Georgia and Moldova. The second part discusses policy trends in the Russian Federation that have inspired a new feeling of self-confidence. The third part analyses how the new Russian self-confidence is resulting in new pro-active policies towards the secessionist entities. These policies include political, economic and diplomatic support, state-building assistance, maintaining the status quo, making use of the ‘Kosovo precedent’ and taking over some of the institutions of the secessionist entities

Russia's Soft Power Ambitions. CEPS Policy Brief No. 115, October 2006

Few would think that Russia has ‘soft power’ ambitions, in the sense that the term has come to be associated with the EU’s attempts to achieve change in its wider neighbourhood by means of attraction and incentives rather than through coercion. As revealed in this Policy Brief by CEPS Research Fellow Nicu Popescu, however, the truth is that Russia has begun in earnest to invest in the infrastructure of a soft power. He finds that Russia’s approach to consolidating its political regime and strengthen its dominance among its neighbours is increasingly creative and pro-active

European Neighbourhood Policy Two Years on: Time Indeed for an 'ENP Plus'. CEPS Policy Brief, No. 126, 21 March 2007

Conceived in 2003 and 2004, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) has now had two years of operational experience. This initial experience has seen a sorting out of the partner states, with Action Plans drawn up for five Eastern and seven Southern partner states. We would distinguish among these 12 states between the ‘willing’ and the ‘passive’; and among the other partner states without Action Plans between the ‘reluctant’ and the ‘excluded’. These groupings should be the basis for stronger differentiation in the policy packages offered by the EU. In general the political context now calls for a strong reinforcement of the ENP, since the benign situation of 2004 has given way now to a more menacing one, given threats to European values bearing down on the EU from all sides. The EU institutions recognise these needs in principle, and last December the Commission advanced many valuable proposals. ‘ENP plus’ is a term being used by the current German Presidency, without this yet being defined in a public document in operational detail. In our view, ‘ENP plus’ could mean: Plus an advanced association model for the able and willing partner states, Plus a strengthening of regional-multilateral schemes, Plus an upgrading of the standard instruments being deployed, and Plus the offer of an ‘ENP light’ model for difficult states or non-recognised entities. More precisely we suggest a 15-point programme for achieving a qualitative upgrading of the ENP, to give it strategic leverage, rather than allowing it to be seen as a poor cousin of the enlargement process

Europeanization and conflict resolution: a view from Moldova / Additional Commentary to Europeanization and Conflict Resolution: Case Studies from the European Periphery

The present paper looks at the nexus between Europeanization and conflict resolution through the prism of the Transnistria conflict in Moldova. The paper begins with a theoretical account of the conditions under which Europeanization may contribute to conflict resolution. Then the paper addresses the issue of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) as a possible framework for Europeanization. Moldova's attitude towards the policy and a critical assessment of ENP is made, as well as how the debates on the European integration of Moldova have shaped the debates on conflict resolution. The nature of the Europeanization mechanisms of conditionality, social learning and lesson drawing are analysed from the perspective of their relevance for Moldova in general, and for conflict resolution in Transnistria in particular