The publishing house “Cartier” has launched a book titled “EU Foreign Policy and Post-Soviet Conflicts”. Book author Nicu Popescu said that he visited a number of states that experienced armed conflicts in order to find out about the EU’s foreign policy in these countries, IPN reports. Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in the foreword wrote that the book provides the ultimate guide to EU’s performance in conflict management in the post-Soviet space.
“The work focuses on the EU policy regarding the conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, and Nagorno-Karabakh and explains a large part of the interactions between the EU institutions, the member states, Russia and the post-Soviet countries. This is not a book written based on research in a warm office. Nicu Popescu has criss-crossed the conflict regions. He took the pulse of the internal policy formulation process in Brussels and talked to persons who count in the conflict resolution process – from Presidents and mediators to soldiers and refugees,” Martti Ahtisaari says in the foreword.
Attending the launch, Ambassador Dirk Schuebel, Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova, said that he managed to read only the chapter about the Transnistrian conflict and got the impression that Moldova wants the EU to more actively become involved in its settlement. “The book is useful to those who know what happened until now and to those who studied the situation, but need to refresh their memory,” he stated.
Head of Parliament Igor Corman said that what the politicians do will pass away, while what Nicu Popescu wrote will remain for ever. “We speak a lot about the European integration, but do not know much about the mechanisms from inside the EU. We don’t know why the EU would like to help countries like Moldova. This book says about this,” underlined the Speaker.
The launch was also attended by former Prime Minister, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Vlad Filat. He said that the book whose author was his adviser when he served as Premier is based not only on a theoretical research, but also on case studies and field research. “I think this book should have a continuation,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Andrei Popov considers that the book represents a door or a window for all those who want to know better the European Union.
Writer Emilian Galaicu-Paun believes that by this book Moldova became more visible on the world map.
Arcadie Barbarosie, executive director of the Public Policy Institute, said that Nicu Popescu’s book contains many analyses and details about the EU’s involvement in solving conflicts, including the Transnistrian one.
Igor Botan, director of the Association for Participatory Democracy, stated that the book defines the roles of the European Commission and the Council of Europe, which are delicate things that the people should know.
The book “EU Foreign Policy and Post-Soviet Conflicts” is available from the bookshops of the publishing house “Cartier” for slightly over 70 lei.
