Russian and European neighbourhood policies compared

The European neighbourhood policy (ENP) has been unable to shift the political and security processes in the Eastern neighbourhood of the European Union. This is partly to do with the fact that ENP has been developed as if the EU is the ‘only game in town’ and that its neighbours are keen to adopt the European model, just as Central Europe was in the 1990s. In reality, however, the ENP faces a well‐resourced, albeit informal, Russian neighbourhood policy. Both Russia and the EU have used soft and hard power to achieve their objectives in the neighbourhood, and have often undermined each others’ policies in the region. Improving the effectiveness of the ENP will require more EU commitment to deliver on its promises, as well as an understanding that there can be no stable EU–Russia partnership without greater cooperation, not disengagement, in the shared neighbourhood.