Contraria contraiis curantur
After having its first geopolitical transformation in the late 20th century with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Black Sea region started to experience its second phase of geopolitical transformation in the early 21st century with the entrance of the Euro-Atlantic World's - NATO and the European Union (EU) - into the region.
The first geopolitical transformation of the Black Sea region resulted in the birth of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation (BSEC), which was officially established with the Istanbul Summit Declaration on the 25th June 1992, and the Boğaziçi Statement. The second geopolitical transformation of the Black Sea region is still in progress. How would the Black Sea region accommodate these new powers (USA, NATO and the EU) that it has never before encountered? Is perpetual peace in the Black Sea region attainable in the 21st century? What would be the most solid foundation for the new policies, which are consistent with the transforming geopolitics, to be based on? It is possible to raise more questions with indeterminate answers. However, the truth is, the Black Sea region has once again gained a momentum. Consequently, the geopolitics of the Black Sea region is once more on the agenda.
NATO Bucharest and the Sochi Summits
The NATO Bucharest Summit, which was held between the 2nd and 4th April 2008, and the Sochi Summit, which was between the United States' President George W. Bush and the Russian Federations' President Vladimir Putin held on the 6th April, took place in the Black Sea region. In the 50 article declaration of the NATO Bucharest Summit, while summarising decisions of the summit and the view of the alliance on major international problems, the 36th clause is about the Black Sea region. In this clause, while affirming the importance of the Black Sea region, the necessity of an increase in the level of dialogue and cooperation between the Black Sea states and the Alliance has been expressed . The Black Sea states of Georgia and Ukraine were expected to be included in the Membership Action Plan (MAP), which opens the doors to NATO, during the Bucharest Summit. However, this was not realised. The decision of NATO's limited enlargement to Europe's East was reached instead. Ukraine and Georgia's inclusion into the MAP looks likely to be considered during the NATO Ministerial Meetings and the Meetings of Foreign Ministers which will be held at the earliest in December 2008. Consequently, the enlargement strategy towards the Black Sea and the Caucasian regions is left for sometime later .
The South Stream
The strategic importance of the Black Sea region with the South Stream Gas Pipeline Project once again comes into focus. The Russian Federation and Italy developed the South Stream Gas Pipeline Project as an alternative to Nabucco, which planned to transport Iranian and Azeri natural gas to the EU via Turkey. On November 2007 in Moscow, Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni signed the South Stream Gas Pipeline agreement. The total cost of the project is 10 billion dollars, where the two corporations share 50-50 of the cost, and covers a distance of 900 kilometres. The South Stream, still in the project phase, starts from the Russian Federation (Beregova) stretching to Bulgaria (Varna). Consequently, the Black Sea region, once more, becomes part of the agenda with the South Stream project, which enables the by-pass of Turkey and Ukraine. However, studies on the route shows that the project requires either Turkey's or Ukraine's participation. Because, in the case where the pipeline is constructed directly on the Black Sea's seabed, will necessitate the usage of either Turkey's or Ukraine's economic territory. The use of economic territory in the Black Sea is governed by the "Limitation of the Continental Shelf in the Black Sea Agreement", which was signed between Turkey and the Soviet Union in 1978 and the "Decision of Approval of the Exchanged Letters Concerning the Constitution of the Economic Regions in Accordance to the Continental Shelf Borders in the Black Sea", which was added to the agreement in 1986. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly emerged former Soviet states of Ukraine and Georgia changed the Black Sea's economic territory and Turkey, Georgia, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria re-established economic territory and territorial waters in the Black Sea .
GUAM
The conference entitled "Basic principles for the settlement of conflicts in the territories of GUAM countries" was held at Azerbaijan's capital Baku during 15th - 16th April 2008. The number of states and international organisations that are interested with the studies of GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) has increased in parallel with the increase of interest in the region. When the importance given to the Black Sea regional security and cooperation by Turkey is taken into consideration, it is possible that Turkey could take a positive stance in developing regional cooperation with GUAM. Moreover, most of GUAM's goals overlap with the activities of the BSEC. Cooperating on the same issues through different organisations would be meaningless. Therefore, considering GUAM as a complementary rather than an alternative organisation in the Black Sea region is more appropriate.

The EU's New Approach to the Black Sea Region
The Euro-Atlantic entrance to the Black Sea region continues. On 1st January 2007, the EU membership of two Black Sea states (Romania and Bulgaria) enlarged the EU's borders to the shores of the Black Sea. Consequently, the welfare, stability and security of the Black Sea region have become significant issues for the EU. The two Black Sea policy reports, approved by the European Parliament on 17th January 2008, state that the joining of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU made the Black Sea an inland sea of the EU, thus the Black Sea gained a new strategic importance. Furthermore, as EU member states Bulgaria, Romania and Greece should assume the leadership for the development of the cooperation in the Black Sea region. The significance of the Russian Federation and Turkey has been underlined for the realisation of the cooperation's goals .
The Black Sea's strategic location between the East-West energy and transportation corridors for both secure joint use and transport to Western markets of oil and natural gas sources in Eurasia increases the significance of the region. Because of this reason, the Black Sea became a significant region for the EU before the membership of Romania and Bulgaria. For instance, the EU's alerting energy import dependency is reflected in the European Commission's "Green Paper" in 2006. The report states that the largest oil and gas reserves are situated in both politically and economically insecure places like the Middle East, "Europe's import dependency has increased and in 20-30 years time, the 50% dependency today will rise to 70% and this need will be satisfied from these regions." The elevated concerns of the EU states for energy security, has caused an increase of interest by the EU to the politically stable and secure Caspian and Central Asia region, thus its gateway to the West: "Broader Black Sea Region". The European Commission founded the "Black Sea Regional Energy Centre" (BSREC) in 1995 for the development of cooperation between Black Sea region states and after 2004, the Commission developed "the Baku Initiative" for the integration of energy markets of the EU and the Black Sea and Caspian Sea states. Despite all these initiatives, the EU chose to develop bilateral relations with the regions' states rather than taking a regional approach to the Black Sea. The EU, which already has BSEC members Greece, Bulgaria and Romania as its members, is having accession talks with states in the South-East of Europe and Turkey, while at the same time it is conducting negotiations with South Caucasia and other CIS states in the framework of the "European Neighbourhood Policy" and is establishing relations with the Russian Federation under the Strategic Partnership heading.
Relations between the EU and BSEC
Reasons for the failure of regional cooperation organisations in the world are, particularly in this region, the establishment of ambitious goals and the inability to make available the necessary finances for the development of trade, thus having underdeveloped inter-regional trade. Some of the problems within the BSEC emanate from these reasons. The BSEC is for the free movement of capital, labour, goods and services in the Black Sea region. However, studies concerning the identification and elimination of the unmentioned trade barriers of the member states and negotiations for the integration of border crossing and customs regulations for facilitating the movement of goods and services within the BSEC have failed. Even though one of the principle ideas behind the BSEC is to facilitate trade, investment and entrepreneurship by decreasing the level of bureaucracy in the Black Sea region, the BSEC lost this function because of the Russian Federation's pro-domestic economic policies and other BSEC states move towards integration with the EU. However, today the Black Sea is the corridor between the East-West for security, energy and transportation. If BSEC could turn these issues into an area of cooperation rather than conflict, it could revive regional cooperation and justify its existence.
The political request of the BSEC states for cooperation with the EU have been supported by both EU institutions and BSEC states since its first announcement at the BSEC Meeting of Heads of State and Government in October 1996. On 7th February 1997 in Istanbul, the declaration of the BSEC Special Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs enabled the conclusion of Free Trade Agreements both between the member states and between the BSEC states and the EU. Furthermore, the gradual establishment of a Free Trade Area under the auspices of the BSEC has been set as a goal. Consequently, as the first move towards this aim, Turkey, with the representatives from the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat, was given the responsibility for conducting meetings with EU institutions and presenting the results at the BSEC's 9th Ministerial Meeting. The meetings were held in Brussels on 23rd April 1997. The negotiations that were first initiated under Turkey's presidency for the establishment of a Free Trade Area between the EU and BSEC improved with the acceptance of the report that envisages institutionalisation of BSEC-EU relations at the 13th BSEC Meeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Efforts for the conclusion of a free trade agreement between the BSEC states and the EU continued. The road map prepared for the establishment of a Free Trade Area between the BSEC member states envisages a gradual process for the realisation of this goal. Despite efforts for the improvement of BSEC-EU relations, permanent cooperation has not been reached.
In 2007, statements and meetings on the improvement of relations between BSEC and EU states gained momentum. After intensive meetings between the two organisations, the European Commission, in response to the BSEC's long lasting request for the cooperation that is openly expressed in the latest report "BSEC-EU Interaction: The BSEC Approach" on 17th January 2007, expressed its determination for improving relations with the EU's Eastern neighbours and the Black Sea region and its wish for cooperation with BSEC, the oldest and most institutionalised regional economic organisation, in two communiqués. These two communiqués, "Strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy" on 4th December 2006 and "Black Sea Synergy - A New Regional Cooperation Initiative" on 11th April 2007, are important in the sense that these exemplify the value attached to the region by the EU . As expressed in the "Black Sea Synergy - A New Regional Cooperation Initiative", the membership of Bulgaria and Romania caused the EU's borders to enlarge to the Black Sea, thus the regions' and new neighbour's welfare, stability and security have become an urgent problem for the EU. This region has a large population and a market that has great potential for development and is situated at the heart of energy and transportation routes. For all these reasons, the EU should determine priorities and mechanisms for regional cooperation and be more active.
The 15th Anniversary of the BSEC was celebrated in Istanbul on 25th June 2007 with a theme of "Setting Sail for New Horizons". In the summit issues of "energy" and "relations with the EU" had been prioritised. The wish for a combined action with the EU was stated and improvement of relations with the EU was expressed as one of the most important issues in the prospective period. Appreciations for the communiqué of the European Commissions "Black Sea Synergy - A New Regional Cooperation Initiative" and the EU's recognition of the BSEC as a regional partner were expressed and an observer status was given to the EU for the BSEC Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which was held before the Istanbul Summit.
The Meeting between the EU and the BSEC Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ukraine's capital Kiev, on 14th February 2008, was a new turning point for BSEC-EU relations. The EU searched for ways of becoming more active at the summit, which Turkey attended with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ali Babacan. The declaration of the summit at Kiev describes the establishment of a framework for cooperation between the EU and the BSEC.
Black Sea Synergy
The opportunities and threats, like energy, transportation, environment and security, which necessitates a coordinated approach at a regional level, exists in the Black Sea region. Improved regional cooperation may not provide direct resolution to the conflicts. However, in time, regional cooperation could help lift up the barriers through the establishment of trust. Because of this, the EU thinks that the time has come for their involvement in determining regional cooperation priorities and mechanisms. The Black Sea Synergy, the new regional initiative of the EU, was introduced with the communiqué of the European Commission. The Black Sea policy of the EU is designed to accelerate democratic and economic reforms in the Black Sea region through wide-ranging cooperation programs and supports stability and development .

The Black Sea policy of the EU has three pillars: (1) The accession process for Turkey, (2) European Neighbourhood Policy (five states that are part of the Neighbourhood Policy are also members of the BSEC) and (3) Strategic Partnership with the Russian Federation. The European Commission contributed in various sector-specific initiatives in the Black Sea region. Consequently, the aim of the European Commission with the Black Sea Synergy is not establishing an independent Black Sea Strategy. The desired initiative is to complement the three pillars of the Black Sea policy of the EU while strengthening political focus at a regional level and the ongoing cooperation process. The main purposes of the Black Sea Synergy are to improve relations between the Black Sea region and the EU, to enhance existing policies and its implementation, especially at the bilateral level and to help determine a strategic framework. The Black Sea Synergy is crafted in a flexible framework. It has a pivotal role in the evaluation of particular initiatives for the support of the Community and active participation of directly related states and regional organisations. The Black Sea Synergy depends on the joint interest of the EU and the Black Sea region, also considers results of consultations with Black Sea states. The Black Sea Synergy will be built upon already existing regional initiatives like the Danube Cooperation Process, which links the Black Sea and the EU. Moreover, the scope of activities that are highly related with neighbouring regions, such as Central Asia, especially the Caspian Sea, and South-eastern Europe, may go beyond the borders of the Black Sea region. The close ties between the Black Sea approach and the EU's Central Asia strategy is inevitable. Consequently, the Black Sea cooperation encompasses inter-regional elements and considers other regional cooperation programs that are supported by various international organisations and third world countries.
The Black Sea Synergy reflects common priorities and aims focusing on the issues that have considerable support of the EU. The main cooperation issues of the Black Sea Synergy are: democracy, the respect of human rights and good governance, enhancement of security and border control, frozen conflicts, energy, transportation, the environment, maritime policy, fishing, trade, research and education networks, science and technology, employment and social works and regional development.
Conclusion
As a whole, the Black Sea region is not considered to be a part of Europe. However, states that are either neighbouring the Black Sea or a part of the greater Black Sea region become singly part of the World's agenda. For instance, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia... The Black Sea region continues to search and construct its identity through constant transformation. Under these circumstances, the existence of the EU in the Black Sea region provides new perspectives and opportunities. The EU asserts that it will bring more stability and prosperity to the Black Sea region. However, the Black Sea is already a stable and secure sea. Time will tell whether or not the EU can bring more prosperity to the region. The truth is, we are entering an era in which the EU will be more active in the Black Sea region.

Endnotes
I) After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Caucasia became the access point to the Black Sea for the Russian Federation. Because of this, Novorossiysk and Sochi in Northwest Caucasia, which gained strategic importance for Moscow, are important ports. The Russian Federation's subtropical Black Sea coast, with emphasis on the Black Sea's strategic place, had been an ideal place to host President Bush. Sochi, where the 2014 Winter Olympic will be held, has another factor that makes the city significant. It is the border town with the de facto independent Abkhazia, which seems to be the biggest obstacle to Georgia's NATO membership. Sochi airport and port have been frequently used for Abkhazia's foreign trade and by those who would like to enter Abkhazia.
II) Bucharest Summit Declaration, NATO Website, http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/2008/p08-049e.html
III) The biggest obstacles to Georgia's NATO membership are de facto independent Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The postponement of Georgia's NATO membership at the Bucharest Summit ensured that the Russian Federation did not recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, for now. The Kremlin, in order to prevent and postpone as much as possible Georgia's integration with the Euro-Atlantic institutions, have intensified its search for smoothing relations with Tbilisi. In accordance with this strategy, the flights between the Russian Federation and Georgia, which were stopped 18 months ago, restored on 25th March. However, in the case of Georgia's young and ambitious President Saakashvili, who was damaged from the Presidential election on 5th January 2008, suffered further damage from the national elections, he might use force against Abkhazia and South Ossetia in order to open the doors of NATO and the EU.
IV) Hasan Kanbolat, "Karadeniz'in Jeopolitik Konumu Yeniden Gündemde", ASAM Website, 9 April 2008, http://www.asam.org.tr/tr/yazigoster.asp?ID=2128&kat2=1; "Rusya'nın enerji atağında Türkiye kilit ülke oldu", Zaman, 7 April 2008.
V) The European Parliament Official Website, 17 January 2008,
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/030-18599-014-0...
VI) The Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization. DPT Official Website, http://www.dpt.gov.tr/dei/kei/kei.htm.
VII) Black Sea Synergy-A New Regional Cooperation Initiative", 11 April 2007, COM (2007), http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/pdf/com07_160_en.pdf
Maria Arsenis, "Avrupa Ekonomik Alanının Şekillendirilmesi Hakkında Rapor", KEİPA VIII) Genel Kurulu, 9 December 2003, TBMM Official Website,
http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/ul_kom/keipa/komisyonlar/ec/GA22_EC21_REP_03_tr.htm

*ASAM Caucasia Specialist