The European Commission Wednesday proposed closer ties with Ukraine, Georgia and other ex-Soviet states, but denied it was seeking a "sphere of influence" in former Soviet countries.
The new "Eastern Partnership" scheme, which E.U. member states must yet endorse, will offer "a step change in the E.U.'s relations" with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, plus Belarus, if it embraces democracy, the commission said.
What the new partnership will not be, officials were swift to say, is a promise of eventual E.U. membership.
E.U. Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, unveiling the proposals at a Brussels press conference, said the E.U. was seeking influence in the region but said Cold War-style "spheres of influence" were no longer valid.
"We have said clearly that the Cold War is over. Where there is no Cold War there should be no spheres of influence," he said.
"I believe all countries have the right to decide what way they should go," he said.
"When we want to do more for this region it is not in the way of confrontation with anyone else," he said. "We are interested in influence, but in influence when it comes to promoting our values. This is soft power.
"We are interested in the promotion of democracy and open societies, respect for human rights, of press freedoms and independence."
Barroso said that the idea for closer ties with the region gained support after Russia fought a short war in Georgia in August.
"The Georgia crisis did cause our member states to think about whether or not we should do something more for this region of the world.
"It is not in Europe's interests to have crises on our doorstep of the Georgian kind."