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Mobilisation of international support for the Eastern Partnership discussed at the Baltic Assembly Conference in the Seimas

Press release, 3 June 2019

 

 

The Eastern Partnership Conference of the Baltic Assembly Can We Deliver? Setting our Course over the Next Ten Years was hosted by the Seimas on 31 May 2019. The event was attended by parliamentarians, ministers, and experts from the three Baltic States as well Georgia, Ukraine, Germany, Moldova, Armenia, France and other countries. It was organised to mark the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership.

 

One of the sessions of the Conference was titled Putting Words into Action: Mobilising International Support over the Next Decade. In her address, Hanna Hopko, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, thanked everybody for the assistance to Ukraine. She reviewed the developments over the past five years after the Maidan and underlined that the Marshall Plan for Ukraine, initiated by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, was an important means for raising awareness among the international community. Ms Hopko stressed that it was crucial to look for ways to achieve a ceasefire as Ukraine continued to suffer a significant number of injuries and deaths among the Ukrainian troops. She added that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine had adopted a resolution on Thursday addressing the international community on imposition additional sanctions on the Russian Federation for violating the rights of indigenous peoples in Russia. Over the whole period of the aggression, Ukraine had expressed its support for the Russian activists in Ukraine. Ukrainians expressed solidarity with all the activists fighting against Putin’s regime in the Russian Federation. Ms Hopko continued by saying that Ukraine wanted to restore its territorial integrity and thanked everyone for their support in this cause. She also expressed her hope that Andrius Kubilius’ work in the European Parliament would help Ukraine to move from the stagnation point, so that real results could be seen, and get a tangible support from the European Commission. She was also hopeful that other Eastern Partnership countries will also receive support and that Ukraine would be granted a NATO membership perspective. Ms Hopko argued that Ukraine would implement all the necessary reforms but in exchange it needed a signal from the EU Member States that they wanted to see Ukraine as a strategic partner and a member of the European family.

 

Juozas Bernatonis, Chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, noted that Lithuania was one of the most active supporters and participants of the Eastern Partnership. ‘I would like to emphasise and celebrate the fact that the Eastern Partnership is among the key priorities of Lithuania’s foreign policy, where the position of our political parties, both the ruling coalition and the opposition, is the same,’ said Mr Bernatonis. In his view, the positive democratic developments in the Eastern Partnership countries represented EU’s success, too. He said that by promoting democratic reforms, the rule of law, and the principles of the market economy in our immediate neighbourhood, we created a broader security and stability area, which was a safer and a more peaceful place for all.

 

Mr Bernatonis reminded the audience that on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership, Foreign Ministers of the EU Member States had discussed the achievements of the Eastern Partnership at their meeting in Brussels. ‘Looking forward to the next decade, I would like to highlight a number of key areas where our common efforts are still needed and have to be strengthened further. Firstly, progress is needed in resolving the frozen conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries. Secondly, consolidation of the rule of law, implementation of legal reforms and fight against corruption in the partner countries should be sought. Thirdly, focus should be made on building public resilience to internal and external threats and countering disinformation and other hybrid threats,’ said Mr Bernatonis. He also added that the financial dimension of support was equally important. The development of a strong and responsible society in the context of democratic reforms remained a significant factor. ‘Without public support, no reforms will be fully successful,’ he said.

 

The speakers at the Conference noted that a number of initiatives and reforms had been implemented since the launch of the Eastern Partnership in 2009. However, major challenges were still to be addressed in the future. Tamar Khulordava, Chairperson of the Committee on European Integration of the Parliament of Georgia, observed that countries striving for integration were not identical and faced different challenges, but they also shared many similarities. Therefore, the Eastern Partnership was a good policy. If she was asked to assess the progress of the Eastern Partnership, she believed that it had been really very successful and we had witnessed many positive developments, notably in the three countries that had signed the Association Agreements. However, this was not sufficient as the countries preferred a membership perspective and it was very important that they be given the perspective. Ms Khulordava added that this was not a prospect that would cause fear or anxiety. Nobody expected this happening the next day. This meant that those countries would have the right to join once they met the established criteria. She said that meeting the criteria was for the national benefit. She also thanked the Baltic Assembly for its interest in the Eastern Partnership and pointed out that what she hoped from the EU Member States was a bold and open attitude.

 

Václav Hampl, Chair of the Committee on EU Affairs of the Czech Senate, spoke about the perspective of support for the Eastern Partnership in terms of  each country individually and all of them collectively. He assured that the Czech Republic welcomed the Eastern Partnership and it was during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU that the Eastern Partnership had been launched. Mr Hampl also noted that at the moment, some EU Members States were quite hesitant about the prospect of the EU membership for the Eastern Partnership countries and that support was coupled with some scepticism. He also added that other colleagues had spoken about political cycles and when the political cycle changed in his country, the attitude could also change. The EU Member States should not see the Eastern Partnership as some sort of charity. The Czech Republic was not against charity, but the Eastern Partnership was also about a selfish interest, meaning what was good for them was also good for us. Hence, it was a certain benefit to the EU. Mr Hampl argued that there was a need to convince colleagues in the hesitant Member States by offering a cost and benefit analysis, including in the area of security. Finally, he underlined that the Eastern Partnership policy had to be adequately funded and reminded about the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2022, with the Eastern Partnership among the priorities on the Presidency agenda.          

 

Ewa Tomaszewska, member of the Social Policy and Family Committee and the Education, Science and Youth Committee of the Polish Sejm, pointed out the lack of progress in the area of strengthening the rule of law and combating corruption. She admitted that corruption was one of the major obstacles to improving business and investment environment in the Eastern Partnership countries. In order to ensure further development of the Eastern Partnership, Poland proposed three elements, namely legal approximation, sectoral cooperation, and political and institutional integration. Ms Tomaszewska proposed an idea of establishing an Eastern Partnership Secretariat, which could be also helpful to the Presidency in order to exchange views, ideas, and proposals. She concluded by saying that Poland would undertake the Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2025, with the Eastern Partnership high on the agenda.          

 

Renata Skardžiūtė-Kereselidze, Deputy Director at the Georgian Institute of Politics. observed that differentiation and inclusion were both relevant to the Eastern Partnership. However, at some point, there was a conflict between the two concepts. She added that while inclusion was more prominent, differentiation, in her view, was more important and should be underlined in all the Eastern partnership instruments. Ms Skardžiūtė-Kereselidze also pointed out the need for cooperation with think tanks and better coordination of efforts in EU Member States. Governments and Parliaments were not able to engage everywhere. Even if there was some difference in opinion, there was an agreement on the common goal.

 

Members of Parliament from Azerbaijan, Armenia and other countries also spoke in this session of the Conference.

 

On 13–14 May 2019, the European Union together with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership.  

 

Established in Tallinn on 8 November 1991, the Baltic Assembly is an international organisation for cooperation among the parliaments of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Latvia. The term of presidency of the Baltic Assembly is one calendar year and the presidency is held alternately by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In 2019, Latvia holds the presidency of the Baltic Assembly and the Baltic Council of Ministers.

 

 

Monika Kutkaitytė, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department,

tel. +370 5 239 6666, e-mail: [email protected]

 

   Last updated on 06/04/2019 13:16
   Monika Kutkaitytė