Dilemmas of Democracy Promotion: the EU policies in Tunisia and Egypt after the Arab Awakening

The paper examines the European Union's democracy promotion policies in Tunisia and Egypt in the 2010s, aimed at promoting democratization. After the Arab Awakening, the EU has undertaken consid- erable efforts to help both states in the process of democratic transition, but the actions of Brussels had a dif- ferent effect. In Tunisia, whose authorities after the 2011 revolution expressed their commitment to democra- cy, the EU assistance played a very constructive although not a decisive role. In Egypt, where the EU found itself in an extremely competitive environment, Brussels failed to promote the country's democratic develop- ment and advance its own agenda. Thus, the EU had to return to a pre-2011 model of relations, based on co- operation with the Arab governments, which were not democratic but capable of ensuring stability in the neighboring region the problems of which tend to spill over directly to Europe.