> The insecurity caused by the unresolved conflicts in
the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood requires
immediate solutions.
> To date, the schemes designed for resolving the
Abkhazian, South Ossetian, Nagorno-Karabakh and
Transnistrian conflicts have proven unsuccessful.
> Against the background of tensions between the
US/EU and Russia, novel solutions hinging on
security and political confidence-building
measures, and political, economic and social
remedies are advised.
> Confidence-building measures include, among
others, institutionalizing high-level meetings,
modifying the OSCE Minsk Group, safeguarding the
demilitarized zones and sending a permanent
monitoring to Nagorno-Karabakh. Additional
measures require creating a longer-term EU-Russia
monitoring mission for Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, adding a ‘civilian’ ‘wing’ to the peacekeeping mission in Transnistria, capping defence
expenditures and armaments and using preemptive and preventive measures for all conflicts.
> In terms of additional remedies, banning ‘hate
speech’, re-shaping the existing economic patterns
and supporting SMEs, as well as paving the way for
visa-free travel to Abkhazians and South Ossetians
and fostering infrastructural links would be useful
measures.
> The recommendations aim at achieving the type of
‘sustainable peace’ that the EU champions in its
Global Strategy
