Publication

This paper argues that despite the common interests that exist between the EU and NATO, such as dealing with the threats posed by Russia as well as Islamic extremism in the Middle East, the two have been unable to develop a formal framework for security cooperation. The authors highlight that a main reason for this is that efforts to overcome this shortcoming have been blocked by Cyprus in the EU and Turkey in NATO due to their dispute over the island of Cyprus. They then look at examples of EU-NATO cooperation in Kosovo and Afghanistan that have occurred despite the lack of a formal framework and outline what lessons the two actors can learn from them to deal with the security and coordination challenges both institutions face. Finally, the authors look at what role Poland and Norway could play in facilitating EU-NATO cooperation.