The Impact of the EU Eastern Partnership on European Security

The paper presents an analysis of the impact of the Eastern partnership (EaP) on European security through the prism of the neoclassical realism theory by considering the origins, goals and objectives of the policy, EU cooperation with the EaP countries, as well as the evolution of the EU approach towards building relations with Eastern partners. The example of cooperation between the European Union and Ukraine on the preparation of the Association Agreement revealed that, despite the fact that the goal of the Eastern partnership was to strengthen security by bringing democracy and stability to neighboring countries in the East, it had a negative impact on European security, a major example of which was the Ukrainian crisis. With the advent of the Eastern partnership the EU's activities became a political rivalry with Russia. Thus, the tasks of promoting stability and prosperity, as well as resolving conflicts in the post-Soviet space, have shifted to the background. Analysis of the results of the Eastern partnership revision initiated by the European Union because of the Ukrainian crisis determined the features of the EU approach towards EaP countries, as well as the current main tasks and problems facing the EU and the participants of the initiative.