EXPLORING THE LIMITS OF THE EU'S NORMATIVE POWER TOWARDS THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

The European Union (EU) has been described as a normative power, an actor that not only is constructed on a normative basis, such as democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights, market economy, but most likely has a predisposition in acting in a normative way, and also in an altruistic manner in the international relations. One such tool of promoting its set of norms, and convincing others to accept them is the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The article examines the Eastern dimension of the ENP and the EU's norm promotion towards South Caucasus countries. The article highlights the fact that due to the way the EU's interests are constructed and due to several factors such as the regional environment, and the ambiguity of the EU's policies towards this area, the European Union's capacity to conduct a normative foreign policy is low.