Xenophon Paper 2 pdf - ICBSS

are being put forward by its member states, thus complicating the coordination of efforts
for common projects. Russia, on its term, tries to maintain a status of superpower heir
of the USSR and to keep a traditional sphere of influence in the Black Sea region. Difficulties
in Russia’s internal transformation and limited resources have narrowed these aspirations
mainly to the region of the CIS in the first years after the collapse of the USSR. That is
why Russia had a quite passive position in the BSEC programs. Only after 1995 did the
Russian Federation actually develop a policy toward the region.
First of all, Russia concentrates its efforts on keeping control over oil and gas pipelines
and the main traffic of goods on railways, motorways and airways in the countries of
Central Asia. Moscow shows a special interest in forcing Azerbaijan and other interested
parties to agree to the transport of Caspian oil from Azerbaijan, through Russian oil
pipelines and ports. In the last years, relations between Russia, on the one side, and
Georgia and Ukraine, on the other, have greatly deteriorated. Russia’s policies are
therefore aimed at maintaining the inviolability of its strategic interests in the region,
which translates into dictating terms to other states in the region. The Russian Federation
has done everything in its power to prevent political, economic and military efforts in
Transcaucasus as well as to obstruct third states from having influence in the region (chiefly
Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Iran).
Turkey hopes to assert its own strong geopolitical position and to increase its economic
power. Market reforms in the countries of the region are oriented not on the development
of small and medium-size businesses but on the modernisation and transformation of
the public sector, which unfortunately comes at the expense of international financial
support. This fact also influences the Turkish position towards the BSEC which has
been disappointing to the other members of the organisation. Greece as an EU member
tries to use the advantages of a “mediator” role in relations with other countries of the
BSEC, in particular in exploiting financial possibilities. For this, Greece has concentrated
its efforts on the development of concrete projects, carried out with the financial support
of the EU (the foundation of the BSTDB, the creation of the ICBSS, etc.).
Greece’s initiatives are widely supported by Bulgaria, Romania and to a certain degree
by Ukraine whose main foreign policy priority is joining the EU. In this respect, the
elaboration of concrete projects could be an attempt to further cooperation in the Black
Sea region through state interaction with international structures, which indirectly conduce
to the processes of European integration.
The South Caucasus countries concentrate their efforts on solving inner problems and settling
disputes with neighbours. Their contribution to the development of the BSEC is so far
minimum. Only Georgia for example actively conducts environmental protection activities.
Unfortunately, achievements by the BSEC in creating a regional market and establishing
cooperation in the field of investments remain limited. Trade among regional states has
152 UNFOLDING THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION VIEWS FROM THE REGION