On 22-23 July 2017, the first introductory meeting of the EDSN fellows was held at the Borjomi Rixos Hotel in Borjomi, Georgia. EDSN fellows and project leaders gathered to kick off the fellowship, bond amid Borjomi’s highland beauty, and, most importantly, discuss critical issues of democracy, security, and conditionality in Eurasia.
The network members discussed various issues concerning the project, starting from the technical details to the program structure and expectations of the project team. Apart from the administrative details, the EDSN workshop was dedicated to various issues related to the question of Euro-Atlatnic conditionality. Other related topics of discussion included regional stability in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Russian influence operations, and the role of conditionality in maintaining regional peace.