EaP CSF Newsletter 

14 July 2015

For the newsletter in Russian, please click here

Co-Chair of EaP CSF Steering Committee Addressed EaP Informal Ministerial Meeting in Minsk

On 29 June, the EaP CSF co-chair Andrei Yahorau participated in the 5th EaP Informal Ministerial Meeting in Minsk on behalf of the EaP CSF and its Belarusian National Platform. The meeting, which gathered foreign ministers of the EaP countries and EU Institutions representatives, as well as the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, aimed at reflecting on the results of the Riga summit and discussing how to take the Partnership forward across the agreed areas of cooperation. The co-chair of the EaP CSF Steering Committee urged decision-makers to strengthen dialogue with the EaP CSF National Platforms especially in the process of the development of the policy and major EU-EaP documents. Andrei Yahorau also referred to the recent developments in Armenia and restated the EaP CSF position on the illegal actions of the Armenian authorities against peaceful protesters.

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Belarusian National Platform Elected New Coordination Committee

During the conference of the Belarusian National Platform organised on 25 June in Minsk the members elected the new Coordination Committee and Sviatlana Karaliova (Belarusian Organization of Working Women) as its new chair. The participants of the meeting discussed challenges of stagnation and governmentalization of the third sector.

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Steering Committee Condemned Illegal Actions against Protesters in Yerevan

The Steering Committee adopted a statement expressing its strong condemnation of the illegal actions of the Armenian authorities and demanding the immediate cessation of any persecution of citizens of Armenia who are acting within the requirements of the Armenian Constitution and legislation. The Committee called on the EU to treat the unacceptable behaviour of the Armenian authorities as a significant obstacle for an effective dialogue on the cooperation between Armenia and the EU.

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​Kyiv Security Perspectives - Towards a Security Agenda for the Eastern Partnership

On 3-5 June 2015 the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF) and its Ukrainian National Platform organised in Kyiv the International Security Experts Conference "Kyiv Security Perspectives - Towards a Security Agenda for the Eastern Partnership" that gathered security experts from the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU. The conference served as a platform for the discussion on strengthening the EaP security dimension covering the spectrum of possible soft and hard measures. It concluded with the adoption of a resolution with practical recommendations on strengthening various dimensions of security in the Eastern Partnership countries.

Position Paper on EaP Security Dimension

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​Contributions to the European Neighbourhood Policy Review Submitted

On 30 June, the Secretariat of the EaP CSF submitted the ENP review contribution on behalf of the Forum. This contribution draws on the discussions at the EaP CSF meetings focusing on the ENP review, including the conference on the EaP security dimension held in Kyiv in June 2015, as well as research papers and written submissions by the members. We would like to thank all the members involved in the process for their valuable contributions.

We were also actively engaged in the work on the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs (AFET) Committee own initiative report on the future of ENP by rapporteur Eduard Kukan (SK, EPP). Several of the suggested amendments have been included in the resolution that was voted by the AFET Committee and later adopted in the EP plenary on 9 July.

​Working Group Annual Meetings

Working Group held their annual meetings in June-July with the Working Group 2 meeting finishing the marathon on 10 July in Brussels. We managed to engage in the dialogue with high level EU decision-makers and representatives from various organisations that actively contributed to the discussions. You can find the detailed reports and links to the presentations as well as pictures from the Working Group meetings on our website.

Working Group 1 Meeting Report

Working Group 3 Meeting Report

Working Group 4 Meeting Report

Working Group 5 Meeting Report