The European Union Intervention Policy in Ethnic Conflicts : The Cases of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria and Cyprus

The European Union is concerned by ethnic conflicts that are on its borders and can threaten the security of the EU from outside and inside. Examining the cases of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria and Cyprus, this research investigates to what extent the European Union is committed to ethnic conflict resolution. Hypothesizing that EU direct involvement in the conflict resolution process is more successful than the mediated efforts and the failure of the European Union to assist territorial entities sharpens the secessionist trends, the theories of third party intervention, credible commitment theory and the costs and benefits theory form the theoretical framework of this research. The review of the literature formed basis to understand the EU policies and tools deployed for the conflict prevention in the cases selected, on which the applied theoretical framework created strong bases to make conclusions.The EU direct involvement in the conflict resolution process is more effective. Rejecting the second hypothesis the argument becomes valid emphasizing that EU assistance, substantial or not, does not affect the conflicting territories' decision to secede.