The EU as a Promoter of Democracy in Eastern Partnership Countries

This article examines the European Union’s role as a promoter of democracy in the countries participating in the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative. Particular attention is paid to those tools used by the EU to promote democracy in the specified countries, namely: political and diplomatic actions, election observation, international cooperation, EU development assistance for effective governance and civil society, sanctions, various platforms and democracy support funds, and financial support. In order to assess the state of democracy in the countries of the EaP, a number of indices were considered, namely: the Freedom House Democracy Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index and the Eastern Partnership Integration Index to clarify the correlation between the integration processes of Eastern Partnership countries and the effectiveness of reforms. In addition, the authors used the data of the Normandy Index for 2019-2023, which captures, among others, the state of democratic processes. The research hypothesis states that EU’s influence on the countries of the Eastern Partnership in terms of democratisation is not always effective, due to both exogenous and endogenous factors. The mechanisms applied by the EU should complement/intensify the internal transformations of the EaP countries that foster democratisation.