Insight Turkey
Insight Turkey
Challenging ideas
On Turkish politics and International affairs

Author

Azuolas Bagdonas

International Relations Department, Fatih University, abagdonas@fatih.edu.tr
Azuolas Bagdonas
The Geopolitics of Support for Turkey’s EU Accession: A View from Lithuania
July 1, 2012
Why does Lithuania support Turkey’s accession to the European Union? The article analyzes some of the key domestic factors and the strategic thinking behind Lithuania’a continuous support. Domestically, the political culture of the foreign policy elite and the permissiveness of public opinion allow treating Turkey’s accession as a foreign policy issue, subject to cost-benefit calculations. Short-term calculations involve mutually advantageous deals between Turkey and Lithuania. Long-term assessments focus on how Turkey’s membership would affect global, regional, and intra-European dynamics of power relations. The article suggests that, in the context of lasting foreign policy objectives and concerns, Turkey is attractive to Lithuania primarily due to its geopolitical roles: its traditional transatlantic alignment, its function as a transit hub for energy supplies to Europe, and its potential to become a great power, engaging in regional competition with Russia.

We use cookies in a limited and restricted manner for specific purposes. For more details, you can see "our data policy". More...