DISINFO: Eastern Partnership is a tool for the EU to control transit of Russian energy resources
SUMMARY
The fact is that one of the real tasks of the EaP in the Western region of the ex-USSR is control over the transit infrastructure on the territory of Belarus (as well as Ukraine, Moldova and Transnistria), which is used for the transit of energy carriers from Russia to the West.
Both the EU and the US have their own geopolitical and economic interests in this. With the help of the EaP, Belarus and other post-Soviet republics are de facto doomed to become a transit zone for Russian energy resources completely controlled by the EU, markets for low-quality products sold by the EU and the US, a source of cheap resources, including labour, a buffer between Russia and a united Europe.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU's Eastern Partnership, which is portrayed as an “anti-Russian” tool used by the EU for alleged interference in internal affairs and control of the post-Soviet countries. There are no reasons to believe that the EaP aims to control energy transit infrastructure in the participating countries.
The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint policy initiative that aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
It is a mutually beneficial and constructive platform for countries in the region to build a closer relationship with the EU if they choose to do so. The overall aim of the cooperation is to build a common area of shared democracy, prosperity and stability in line with each individual country's aspirations and wishes.
On 28 June 2021, the Belarusian regime took a decision to suspend its participation in the Eastern Partnership; a step that was met with broad criticism.
See similar cases claiming that Eastern Partnership is aimed at weakening Russia’s geopolitical influence, that Eastern Partnership is about external control and disintegration, or that Eastern Partnership is an imitation of integration to alienate post-Soviet states and Russia.