Between Norms and Power: New study by DIDS scholars reveals the EU’s implicit geopoliticisation of the Eastern Partnership

We are pleased to announce a new publication by colleagues from the Department of International and Diplomatic Studies. Kateřina Kočí, Markéta Votoupalová, and Zbyněk Dubský have published their article, Between Norms and Power: Implicit Geopoliticisation of the Eastern Partnership through Energy, in Energy Research & Social Science, a leading international journal ranked in the D1/Q1 category.

The article examines how the European Commission has incorporated the Eastern Partnership into its energy agenda between 2009 and 2024. Combining the Discursive-Historical Approach with Qualitative Content Analysis, the authors show that while the EU’s official discourse highlights normative values such as resilience, support, and shared principles, its practical policy initiatives are driven by strategic considerations, including energy diversification, market integration, and reducing Russian influence. The study introduces the concept of implicit geopoliticisation to explain this gap between rhetoric and practice, contributing to broader debates on the geopolitics of EU foreign policy.

The article is available via Energy Research & Social Science: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2026.104821.

A free-access version is also temporarily available through Elsevier’s author sharing service: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1nNR77tZ6aAhtk.