Features of EU Involvement in the Negotiation Process on the Transnistrian Settlement (1994–2005)

Abstract

The theme of the article is the EU participation in the transnistrian settlement with an emphasis on its observer status in the 5+2 format. It covers the period from the beginning of the negotiation process in 1994 until the EU gained observer status in 2005. Based on historical material, the author shows how the EU was gradually involved in the Transnistrian settlement process and how European mediation evolved, using political and economic tools more actively than the methods of traditional diplomacy. The author identified factors that affect the EU's interaction with the parties to the conflict and including – Russia. At the same time, the author focused on the tools used by the European Union in the conflict region even before its official involvement in the negotiations, including the introduction of sanctions against the leadership of Transnistria. The article also explores the essence of the institution of observer on the example of the EU participation in the negotiations in the "5+2" format. It is shown that the external participants in the negotiations on the Transnistrian settlement are equal, despite the difference in their official status. The Europeanization of the Transnistrian settlement failed to energies the negotiation process and increase its productivity, but it allowed the European Union to test new mediation tools, optimize approaches to the settlement of a modern international conflict, and strengthen its position in the conflict region, which remains a zone of geopolitical competition between Russia and the West.