Eastern Partnership
- European Union
- Eastern Partnership countries
The Eastern Partnership ( in the media, also called Eastern Partnership initially) is a project under the European Neighbourhood Policy ( ENP), the aim of a pre-accession of the six adjacent partly eastern countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus to the European Union. The partnership was launched at the initiative of the Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski with Swedish support on 26 May 2008 at the Council on General Affairs and External Relations in Brussels and decided at the European Council in December 2008. The inaugural Summit was held in Prague on 7 May 2009.
- 6.1 General
- 6.2 Historical Documents
Background
The integration of Eastern Europe was a priority of the Czech Presidency in 2009. Within the framework of the Eastern Partnership, the resources for the European Neighbourhood Policy ( ENP) should be doubled. The aim is to support the six former Soviet republics in political and economic reforms. You will be offered the prospect of duty-free trade and visa-free travel.
In order to deepen cooperation, annual meetings of foreign and Summit are planned every two years. At the parliamentary level, cooperation within the Eastern Partnership of € nest of a meeting of the Members of the European Parliament ( EP) and the parliaments of the six Eastern neighbors supported belonging.
In contrast to the Union for the Mediterranean, which aims to improve the EU's relations with its neighboring countries in the Southern Mediterranean, the companies included in the Eastern Partnership countries are considered as potential candidates. ( " For ENP countries for EU membership is not provided. For the partners in the, Eastern Neighbourhood ' this is possible in principle. " ) Therefore, the Agreement shall, without anticipating a decision in an individual case, indirectly, the future EU external borders fixed. Controversial in this context is mainly dealing with the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is regarded as " the last dictator in Europe ".
Russia is the Eastern Partnership against predominantly negative. In November 2009, President Medvedev stressed during a visit to Belarus, that he saw no sense in the Agreement and all participating States had expressed towards him, like to see that. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relativized on November 25, Medvedev's statement and added that Russia could imagine to join the Eastern Partnership.
History
After the founding summit
After the inaugural Summit on 7 May 2009 in Prague, the first meeting of foreign ministers in the framework of the Eastern Partnership was held in Brussels on 8 December 2009. The press release states that in favor of the Eastern Partnership for the period up to 2013, additional financial support of 350 million euros will be provided, " making a total of EUR 600 million is achieved ." At the meeting it was agreed to try to get in touch with all participating countries, except Belarus, negotiations on Association Agreement in 2010.
From September 2008 to October 2011 were running negotiations with Ukraine on an association agreement. The signing of the agreement was delayed in December 2011 but due to reservations of various EU countries after the imprisonment of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The association talks began with Moldova in the Moldovan capital Chisinau on January 12, 2010. In July, followed talks in the capital cities of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February 2011, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In addition to the request to facilitate a dialogue with Russia, he also wanted to achieve an acceleration of the Association Agreement.
Summit 2011
2011 Poland hosted the second summit meeting, to September 30 took place from 29, Warsaw. The focus of the discussions, the human rights violations in Belarus and Ukraine were. Instead with President Alexander Lukashenko, the German Chancellor met with demonstratively Belarus opposition. At Merkel's interlocutors included, among other things, the former presidential candidate Uladzimir Njakljajeu.
At the summit in 2011, it was decided that by 2013 [ deprecated] for bilateral and multilateral projects 1.9 billion euros will be made available. In addition, a " package for the democratization and modernization of Belarus " was adopted. If the regime of Lukashenka leaves free political prisoners and free elections guaranteed, it may have recourse to loans in the amount of up to 9 billion euros.
Summit 2013
On May 15, 2012, a plan ( " Roadmap" ) was adopted, the objectives to be to Summit in the fall of 2013. This third summit was held on 28 and 29 November, 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania since held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at this time. The meeting was overshadowed by the refusal of Ukraine to sign the negotiated over several years association agreement with the EU. Economic relations with Russia possessed, according to Kiev precedence over a further rapprochement with the European Union. Therefore, in Vilnius, there was only a corresponding agreement with the two smaller countries, Georgia and Moldova, the initialed an Association Agreement with the EU. Moldova has applied since meeting as the new " model country " of the Eastern Partnership. With Azerbaijan signed an agreement on a simplified visa regime has been closed.
The rejection of the Association Agreement by Viktor Yanukovych and the associated stronger links with Russia have led after the end of the summit to massive protests in Ukraine and in consequence to Krimkrise.
January Boris Raetz described in a commentary for the newscast today the project " Eastern Partnership" as a failure.
EU summit in Brussels 2014
On March 21, 2014, the Ukrainian transitional government signed in Brussels the political part of the Association Agreement with the EU. Jean -Claude Juncker advocates to sign with the EU's association agreement with Moldova immediately in order to "create facts " such as Russia in the Crimea.
Civil Society Forum
One of the main objectives of the Eastern Partnership is to promote civil society. This is what the annual " Civil Society Forum ", whose first meeting was held in Brussels in November 2009. The second meeting of the third meeting of 2011 in Poznan ( Poland ) took place in Berlin in 2010, instead. 2012 was Stockholm ( Sweden) and 2013 Chisinau (Moldova ) venue.