The European Union has dished out a 459.9-million-euro ($627 million) aid package to the South Caucasus as part of an ongoing campaign to build closer ties with the EU's neighbors to the east and southeast.
The European Neighbor Policy program aid will assist Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia's drift toward closer integration with the EU. In Armenia and Azerbaijan, Brussels faces competition for influence from Moscow, the region's longtime political and economic power.
Georgia, arguably the region's most vocal EU supporter, received the largest slice of the pie -- 180.3 million euros ($246 million); Armenia and Azerbaijan got 157.3 million ($214.6 million) and 122.3 million euros ($166.9 million), respectively, the European Union announced on its website on March 2.
The three-year aid package is intended to underwrite political and economic reforms, transportation and energy projects, and culture exchanges.
