Building a bridge over troubled waters: Securing the EU’s Black Sea coast

The Russo-Ukrainian war, the potential expansion of the EU’s border on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, the ongoing pressing need for the diversification of the EU’s energy resources, the strategic interest in gaining access to the vast reserves of critically important minerals in Central Asia and, finally, the recent outbreak of a new violent conflict in Iran, have all turned the Black Sea region into an important strategic hotspot for the EU. As the ‘buffer zone’ between the EU and Russia, which is likely to remain a security challenge for Europe for some time to come, becomes thinner, the EU needs to seriously upgrade its policy on the Black Sea region. This article reviews the EU’s approach. It argues that while the EU’s new strategy for the region offers promise, its implementation will require the EU to live up to its potential as a geopolitical actor in this volatile space.