2020-05-25T14:25:08Z https://www.eurobull.it/ukraine-moldova-and-georgia-paving-a-path-to-the-eu#comment23662 2020-05-25T14:25:08Z

<p>Great article and topic ! In these partnership agreements, is there any provision regarding Russian minorities in those countries, like in the region of Odessa or in Transnistria ? As you say, the choice between EU and Russia will lead to internal strains in those countries. While of course there is an incompatibility of the Russian government with European values, agreements that do not start from the acceptance that there is necessarily a broad « border » or transition zone that bridges the two cultural areas, and therefore try to impose an identification with on or the other bloc, are not a long lasting solution (see, for example, the positive outcome in South Tyrol between Italy and Austria compared to what happened with Crimea). And the rights of minorities cannot generally be left entirely to the host country, as is clear, for example, with Russians in the Baltic states and their diffuculties in accessing citizenship after the independence from the Soviet Union. During the Soviet occupation, those people did not choose to move there for some geopolitical belief, but likely because of jobs (if they even had the choice). They nevertheless got caught in inevitable post-independence mechanisms. It would be very interesting to understand what the EU is doing to deal with such issues.</p>