From 17 to 23 March 2014, the students of "The EU as a Regional Actor" major participated in a study trip to Georgia. The initialling of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement highlighted Georgia’s continued European integration as well as the role of the EU as a regional actor in the eastern neighbourhood. Students met in Tbilisi high-level speakers of the government-in-office and the EU Delegation in Georgia, scholars of local universities and representatives of NGOs to discuss the potential benefits and costs of Georgia’s enhanced integration into the EU. Moreover, the purpose of the study trip was to emphasize the transformation Georgia underwent in the last decade.
The study programme consisted of lectures and panels on the internal and external dimension of Georgia’s recent transformation. The panel on the internal dimension dealt with issues of governance and reform after the Rose Revolution in 2003. In the panel on the external dimension there was a particular interest to the triangular interaction of Georgia with the EU and Russia. In addition, students discovered through events and visits more about Georgia’s long history at the edge of large empires, and the creation of a unique culture that survived under a string of foreign occupations.