The EU leaders came to a conclusion that their policy in the Eastern Partnership countries seems to be unrealistic. Accordingly they are going “to craft a more tailored approach by this fall ;” the one that will recognize the difference between neighboring countries and will not make similar demands of democracy development for all of them, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Commenting on the planned new policy the EU’s commissioner for neighborhood policy, Johannes Hahn noted: “It must not be condescending, patronizing, or even preaching.” Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, in her turn added: “As long as we take a preaching approach, I’m afraid we will not get very far.”
It seems that the EU leaders acknowledged that the limited agreements that make Eastern Partnership countries in some cases stand before a choice, have not worked in the past and are not going to work in the future either. This is the reason why now they speak of devising new strategies in this region that would be more realistic and will take into account the needs and worries of those countries in the region.