Poznan, 01/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The 3rd annual Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum was held in Poland from 28 to 30 November - another way for the European Union to manage its near neighbourhood. Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's Foreign Minister, said the “Eastern Partnership is not only between governments. It has its parliamentary dimension, and today we see that it also has a civic dimension”. He went on to add: “This forum is an integral part of the Eastern Partnership. The stronger the civil society is in Eastern Europe, the more successful the Partnership will be.”
The Forum consists of a platform for cooperation between non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of the European Union and Partnership countries that aim to represent the civil society. The promotion of democratic rules and reforms leading to a free market is at the heart of the approach. NGOs play an essential role in the surveillance of government work. European Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Stefan Füle has, moreover, announced that additional financial means will be earmarked for supporting them in their tasks. He said the European Commission will consult NGOs on decisions in the field of Eastern Partnership. NGOs may define their priorities for action and forward this to the European Commission and, Füle continued, “we shall also ensure greater support on the part of experts and financial support from the fund for civil society”.
Gevorg Ter-Garielyan from the Eurasia Foundation said “the European Union has an uncertain relationship with the ex-Soviet states to its east. A meeting in Poznan under the auspices of the union's “Eastern Partnership” is a timely moment to examine what Europe needs to do to revivify its engagement”.
The civil society of the Eastern Partnership was created in 2009, following the Prague summit. It aims to support the development of civil society organisations and to promote contacts between them as well as facilitate their dialogue with public authorities. NGOs state that such an approach would be of major importance but that the European Union also needs to take more into account the world to the east of the Union and to the extreme south-east. (VW/transl.jl)