Energy issues in the European Union's foreign policy towards the states of the South Caucasus

Abstract

The Common Foreign and Security Policy is one of these areas of the European Union's activity which arouses wide interest due to the broad spectrum of issues addressed there (i.a. democracy, the rule of law, trade, and issues related to civil, military and energy security) as well as to continuous evolvement of the Policy itself. Thus this area provides an abundance of issues to research on, discuss and assess, while professional diplomats regard it as a vital tool for attaining common goals that are significant from the perspective of a larger whole rather than only that of individual member states. One of such goals is to ensure energy security of the European Union. With this in mind, it is impossible for EU diplomacy to overlook the states of the South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, both with regard to their energy resources and geographical location. Is the South Caucasus truly the EU's natural direction of improving its energy security? Are these countries able to help the European Union diversify its sources of energy supplies? Finally, are the states of the South Caucasus interested in that? These are only some of the questions the following article should answer.