Europe has learned a lesson from the conflict in Georgia. The EU now wants to bind its neighbors to the east more closely to the union. Although joining the EU is still a distant dream, countries like Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Armenia are receiving support from Europe - especially economic support - to restructure the political and business institutions in their societies.Get to know more about these countries in this new European Journal series: Third Installment: Ukraine The natural gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia has been settled for the moment, but when the Russian government cut-off delivery of supplies at the beginning of January, it affected citizens in EU member states as well. The EU is therefore very interested in strengthening ties to Ukraine. Not only because of energy supply concerns, but also to support the independence of the former Soviet republic.