European Union Challenges for Russia in South Caucasus (Emphasizing Eastern Neighborhood Policy and Partnerships)

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the South Caucasus, which was part of its territory, gained independence; it came to be seen as a major international development that failed to disregard the Russians as a Soviet successor. Russia, which regarded the region as part of its external sphere of proximity and national interest, sought to maintain monopoly influence in the region. On the other hand, due to the political-security, geopolitical-communication importance of the South Caucasus, the region has also been the focus of transnational powers, including the European Union. Understanding the region's importance to the Russians, the European Union has incorporated the region into its regional integration plans, which have endangered Russian hegemony in the South Caucasus and posed a significant challenge to the outside government near it. Therefore, this paper, in a descriptive-analytical way, within the framework of aggressive realism theory, proposes that the entry of EU extra-regional power into the South Caucasus with the aim of integrating the republics of this region into European organizations would exert Russian monopoly influence in the Caucasus. It is a challenge and an important challenge for the Russian Federation abroad.