The Paradox of the EU Eastern Partnership

Brussels hosted a foreign minister-level summit of the European Union's Eastern Partnership on Dec. 13. The program, designed to strengthen the union's ties to former Soviet states on its periphery — particularly Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova — was started by Sweden and Poland. It will need support from the European Union's powerhouses, particularly Germany, in order to fulfill its purpose effectively. However, support from those powers could change the nature of the program.