Eastern partnership
The Eastern Partnership ( EaP ; initially in the media and Eastern Partnership called; English Eastern Partnership , EaP) is a sub-project of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). "The main goal of the Eastern Partnership is to create the necessary conditions for the acceleration of political association and further economic integration between the European Union and interested partner countries." With the six post-Soviet states Armenia , Azerbaijan , Georgia , Moldova , Ukraine and Belarus corresponding agreements were concluded. The partnership was presented to the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on May 26, 2008 at the suggestion of the Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski with Swedish support and decided at the European Council in December 2008. The founding summit took place on May 7, 2009 in Prague .
background
The origin of the concept
The origin of the idea was the Swedish-Polish desire for a counterpart to Mediterranean politics. Almost two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall , the 2008 Caucasus War (Georgian War ) was a kind of “wake-up call” for the EU to regard the former Soviet republics as sovereign states and no longer as “Russia's backyard”. A meeting of the European foreign ministers took place on May 26, 2008. The Foreign Ministers Radosław Sikorski (Poland) and Carl Bildt (Sweden) introduced the concept of an "Eastern Partnership" as a basis for discussion. It contained suggestions regarding visa regulations and support for the reform processes. As early as 2004, Poland had proposed strengthening “an eastern dimension of the EU” because Ukraine's independence and its integration into the EU were viewed as a guarantee that Poland would be protected from Russia. Sikorski's request was rejected by Frank-Walter Steinmeier because Russia was not considered as an addressee of an Eastern Partnership. It was not until 2008, particularly under the impression of the Russian war against Georgia, that Carl Bildt's support made it possible to win over EU policy towards an Eastern partnership.
The Czech Presidency
The integration of Eastern Europe was a focus of the Czech Presidency in 2009 . Funding for the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) is to be doubled within the framework of the Eastern Partnership . The aim is to support the six former Soviet republics with political and economic reforms. They are offered duty-free trade and visa-free travel.
Summit and EURO-NEST
Annual meetings of the foreign ministers and a summit meeting every two years are planned to deepen cooperation. At parliamentary level, cooperation within the Eastern Partnership is supported by EURO-NEST , an assembly made up of members of the European Parliament (EP) and the parliaments of the six eastern neighbors.
Differences to the Mediterranean Union
Since the establishment of the Union for the Mediterranean on July 13, 2008, Poland in particular is said to have viewed the increased concentration on the south as a negative development of the EU, which should be offset by an eastward orientation.
In contrast to the Mediterranean Union, which is intended to improve the EU's relationship with its neighboring countries in the southern Mediterranean, the countries included in the Eastern Partnership are considered long-term potential accession candidates. ("EU membership is not planned for ENP countries. For the partners in the 'Eastern Neighborhood' this is possible in principle.") The agreement therefore indirectly defines the future external borders of the EU without anticipating a decision in individual cases. In this context, the way of dealing with the Belarusian President Aljaksandr Lukashenka , who is considered the “last dictator in Europe”, is particularly controversial .
Differences to the European Neighborhood Policy
A crucial difference between the Eastern Partnership and the European Neighborhood Policy is that the Eastern Partnership is largely based on multilateral cooperation and that cooperation between the countries is also promoted.
Attitude of Russia
Russia is largely hostile to the Eastern Partnership. During a visit to Belarus in November 2009, President Medvedev stressed that he saw no point in the agreement and that all participating states had told him that they would see it similarly. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov put Medvedev's statement into perspective on November 25, adding that Russia could also imagine joining the Eastern Partnership. Russia tried to integrate its neighboring countries through the Eurasian Economic Community , from which the Eurasian Economic Union emerged in 2015 .
Well-known politicians and scientists also support the Russian point of view in Germany. In 2009 , Stefan Meister and Marie-Lena May from the German Society for Foreign Policy described the Polish approach as problematic because it was “primarily directed against Russia's influence in this region. In contrast to the Finnish initiative in the Baltic Sea region, Russia was not an addressee of this policy from the start. Without the inclusion of Russia, however, the EU cannot shape a sustainable Eastern policy ”. Foreign Minister Carl Bildt , write the two authors, was in favor of this project because of Sweden's aversion to the Baltic Sea pipeline and his anti-Russia stance.
Projects and their funding
Eastern Partnership projects are funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) , among others . The “Trust Fund for Technical Assistance in the Eastern Partner Countries” (EPTATF), which was set up in December 2010, offers project-related support and aims to promote the development of institutional structures. Students who are citizens of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova or the Ukraine can further their technical education as part of the “internship program”, whereby the “remuneration package” includes a monthly salary, insurance and reimbursement of travel expenses.
history
From the founding summit (2009) to 2011
After the founding summit on May 7, 2009 in Prague, the first meeting of foreign ministers within the framework of the Eastern Partnership took place on December 8, 2009 in Brussels. The press release stated that additional financial aid of 350 million euros will be made available in favor of the Eastern Partnership for the period up to 2013, “bringing the total amount to 600 million euros”. At the meeting it was agreed to start negotiations on association agreements in 2010 with all participating countries except Belarus .
Negotiations on an Association Agreement were ongoing with Ukraine from September 2008 to October 2011. However, the signing of the agreement was delayed in December 2011 due to reservations by various EU countries following the imprisonment of the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko . Association talks with the Republic of Moldova began on January 12, 2010 in the Moldovan capital Chișinău . Talks followed in July in the capitals of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February 2011, Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel . In addition to the request to enable a dialogue with Russia, he also wanted to accelerate the association agreement.
Summit 2011
In 2011 Poland hosted the second summit, which took place in Warsaw from September 29-30. The discussions focused on human rights violations in Belarus and Ukraine. Instead of meeting with President Aljaksandr Lukashenka , the German Chancellor demonstratively met with members of the Belarusian opposition. Merkel's interlocutors included the former presidential candidate Uladsimir Nyakljajeu .
At the 2011 summit it was decided that by 2013, 1.9 billion euros should be made available for bilateral and multilateral projects. A “package for the democratization and modernization of Belarus” was also adopted. If the Lukashenka regime releases political prisoners and guarantees free elections, it can fall back on loans of up to 9 billion euros.
Summit 2013
On May 15, 2012, a plan (“ roadmap ”) was adopted, specifying the goals to be achieved by the autumn 2013 summit. This third summit took place in Vilnius on November 28-29, 2013 , as Lithuania held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at that time .
The 2013 summit was overshadowed by Ukraine's refusal to sign the multiannual association agreement with the EU . According to Kiev, economic relations with Russia take precedence over further rapprochement with the European Union . In Vilnius, therefore, only a corresponding agreement was reached with the two smaller countries Georgia and the Republic of Moldova , which initialed an association agreement with the EU . Since the meeting, Moldova has been regarded as the new "model country" of the Eastern Partnership. An agreement on simplified visa regulations has been concluded with Azerbaijan . Negotiations with Armenia had also progressed quickly and the country was actually preparing to sign the Association Agreement with the EU in Vilnius. But after his visit to Moscow and talks with Putin, President Serzh Sargsyan surprisingly announced on September 3, 2013 that Armenia intends to join the Russian-dominated customs union in the near future. He gave the following reason: "If a country is part of a military security system, it is impossible to isolate itself from an economic area that includes the same states."
The suspension of the Association Agreement by Viktor Yanukovych and the stronger ties to Russia led to massive protests in Ukraine after the summit, which resulted in the Crimean crisis .
EU summit, March 2014
On March 21, 2014, the Ukrainian interim government signed the political part of the association agreement with the EU in Brussels. Jean-Claude Juncker advocated the immediate signing of the EU's Association Agreement with the Republic of Moldova in order to "create facts" like Russia did in Crimea.
Anniversary meeting in Prague, April 2014
On April 24th and 25th the anniversary meeting for the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Eastern Partnership took place in Prague. Apart from Donald Tusk from Poland, no head of government from any major EU country attended the meeting. The EU was represented by its enlargement commissioner Štefan Füle . According to the sparse media reports, the main topic of the event should be the crisis in Ukraine .
EU summit, June 2014
On June 27, the EU signed association agreements with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The political part of the agreement with Ukraine was signed in March 2014. However, following trilateral talks, the entry into force of the agreement was mutually postponed to December 31, 2015 in order to take Russian concerns into account.
The simplified trade provisions between the EU, Georgia and Moldova came into effect on September 1, 2014.
2015 Summit
The fourth Eastern Partnership Summit took place on May 21 and 22, 2015 in Riga , the capital of Latvia. Angela Merkel dampened expectations in the run-up to the talks and, with a view to Moscow, ruled out Ukraine joining the EU . The Eastern Partnership is "not an instrument of enlargement policy ". The Ukraine and Georgia , however, a "clear perspective" hoped for by the European Union on issues such as EU accession and visa facilitation.
The summit was overshadowed by domestic political issues. The European Union was busy, according to media reports, especially with yourself. The French President Hollande and the German Chancellor used the meeting for a two-hour conversation with Prime Minister Tsipras about the Greek debt crisis . British Prime Minister David Cameron wanted to talk above all about Britain and its plans for reforming the EU.
The result of the summit: on the condition that corruption is combated and the economy reformed, the EU promised Ukraine a loan of 1.8 billion euros. 200 million euros in funding shared by Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova are earmarked for small and medium-sized companies. After the Moldovans, Georgians and Ukrainians can also travel to the EU more easily.
Summit 2017
In addition to Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine has also been a member of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) since January 1, 2016 . Georgians have been free to travel since March 28, 2017 and Ukrainians since June 11, 2017. You can enter the Schengen area for up to 90 days without a visa . (For Moldovans, the "Schengen visa exemption" came into force on April 28, 2014.)
The fifth summit coincided with the Estonian (originally planned: British) EU Council Presidency . As an exception, the 2015 final declaration did not specify a conference venue. The summit took place on November 24, 2017 in the Europa building in Brussels . The heads of state and government discussed how cooperation in the four areas of economy, governance, connectivity (improving interconnected networks, particularly in the areas of transport and energy) and society can be further developed. Johannes Hahn , EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations , named the Eastern Partnership's goal of creating a “belt of prosperity” around the EU.
The six partner countries of the EU pursue different interests. They can be roughly divided into two groups. While the governments of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are relying on consistent rapprochement with the EU, Belarus and Armenia have joined the Eurasian Economic Union ; Azerbaijan's foreign policy is also heavily dominated by Russia. The EU therefore wants to conclude “tailor-made agreements” with its eastern neighbors, with aid linked to progress made in democratization and the rule of law.
10th anniversary 2019
In April 2018, a " velvet revolution " led to the overthrow of the government in Armenia, which had been blamed for corruption and nepotism . Despite the developments, out of consideration for the 2019 European elections and the associated reassignment of management positions, the regular summit was not held. Instead, on May 13 and 14, 2019, the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership was celebrated in Brussels , accompanied by around 100 multilateral events . A meeting of high-ranking politicians took place as part of the celebration, but the final declaration customary at summit meetings was dispensed with.
Civil Society Forum
One of the main concerns of the Eastern Partnership is the promotion of civil society . This is what the annual “ Civil Society Forum ” ( English Civil Society Forum , EaP CSF) stands for, the first meeting of which took place in November 2009 in Brussels . The second meeting took place in 2010 in Berlin , the third in 2011 in Poznan (Poland). The event took place in Stockholm (Sweden) in 2012, Chișinău (Moldova) in 2013 and Batumi (Georgia) in 2014 . The 7th forum took place in Kiev from November 19-21, 2015 .
The 8th Civil Society Forum took place from November 28-30, 2016 in Brussels. The 9th meeting followed from October 25-27, 2017 in Tallinn . During the conference, Mykola Semena , a journalist persecuted from Crimea, and the detained Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli in 2017 received the “EaP CSF Pavel Sheremet Journalism Award”.
E-partnership
On October 4, 2017, a conference on “E-Partnership” “Trust in E-Governance in Eastern Partnership Countries” took place in Tallinn . The conference dealt with the question of how the countries of the Eastern Partnership can use information technologies to make governance more transparent and guarantee the security of cyberspace.
literature
- Sebastian Schäffer and Dominik Tolksdorf: "The Eastern Partnership - 'ENP plus' for Europe's Eastern neighbors" , CAPerspectives , 4/2009 (in English)
- Susan Stewart: "Russia and the Eastern Partnership" , SWP -Aktuell , 21/2009.
- Wolfgang Tiede and Jakob Schirmer: "The Eastern Partnership of the EU", in: WeltTrends , Issue 71 (March / April 2010), pp. 10-14.
- Wolfgang Tiede and Jakob Schirmer: The Eastern Partnership of the European Union within the framework of Community Law in Eastern European Law (OER) 2009, Issue 2, pp. 184-19.
See also
Web links
General
- European Parliament (EP): EU Fact Sheets: Eastern Partner Countries
- European External Action Service (EEAS): Information on the Eastern Partnership (English)
- Foreign Office (AA): The Eastern Partnership
- Institute for Foreign Relations (ifa): Eastern Partnership
- Eastbook.eu - The Eastern Partnership Portal (English, Polish, Russian)
- Eastern Partnership - Civil Society Forum home page
- The “Eastern Partnership” and the European Union (country portraits), DLF , May 4-8 , 2009
Historical documents
- Meeting of the European Council: "Conclusions" (points 29-31; PDF; 208 kB), 19. – 20. March 2009
- Eastern Partnership Summit in Prague (eu2009.cz, May 7, 2009; English)
- Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw (2011) ( Memento from March 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit, Vilnius, November 28-29, 2013 (PDF file; 180 kB)
- Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit, Riga, 21-22 May 2015 (PDF file; 74 kB)
- Over 250 CSOs Gathered in Brussels to Discuss the Future of the Eastern Partnership at the 8th Annual Assembly
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joint declaration at the summit meeting of EU heads of state and government with representatives of neighboring countries to the east in Prague on May 7, 2009, quoted from: Günter Verheugen : Why Helmut Schmidt is wrong (open letter), Spiegel Online , May 19, 2014.
- ^ "Partnership with ex-Soviet republics sealed" , Tagesschau , May 7, 2009.
- ↑ Barbara Lippert: "European Neighborhood Policy". In: Yearbook of European Integration , 2009, p. 163 ff., Esp. P. 170
- ↑ Volker Pabst: "Russian power politics in your own backyard." In: NZZ online , September 20, 2013
- ↑ http://www.bpb.de/177178/oestliche-part Partnerschaft , based on: Martin Große Hüttmann / Hans-Georg Wehling (ed.): Das Europalexikon, 2nd, updated. Aufl. Bonn: Dietz 2013. Author of the article: M. Große Hüttmann
- ^ Eastern Partnership , bpb, query date: March 13, 2016.
- ^ "Where does Europe end?" , Tagesschau , May 7, 2009.
- ^ "EU invites Europe's last dictator" , Tagesspiegel , April 17, 2009.
- ^ Anna Striethorst: Neighborhood Policy and Eastern Partnership | Europa-Links.eu. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017 ; accessed on November 6, 2017 (German).
- ^ "Lavrov: Russia could join EU Eastern Partnership" , Hürriyet , November 25, 2009.
- ↑ https://dgap.org/de/think-tank/experten/1066
- ↑ Stefan Meister and Marie-Lena May: The Eastern Partnership of the EU - an offer of cooperation with misunderstandings. In: dgap.org. September 2009, accessed March 13, 2016 .
- ↑ Trust Fund for Technical Assistance in the Eastern Partner Countries (EPTATF) , retrieved on 10 February 2016.
- ↑ Internship program of the Eastern Partnership , query date: February 10, 2016.
- ^ "Implementation of the Eastern Partnership is proceeding according to plan" , press release on europa.eu , December 8, 2009.
- ↑ ost-ausschuss.de: agreement brings Ukraine to reform course , press release, December 19, 2011 Access 6 January 2012
- ^ “EU and Republic of Moldova are getting closer” , Deutsche Welle , January 14, 2010.
- ↑ europa.eu: EU starts negotiations with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia on association agreements , press release from July 15, 2010, accessed on February 18, 2011
- ^ Ingrid Müller: Contact instead of confrontation: Georgia hopes for Merkel's help , Tagesspiegel, February 7, 2011, accessed on February 18, 2011
- ^ "Tymoshenko case weighs on Warsaw Summit" , Deutsche Welle , September 29, 2011.
- ^ "EU insists on democracy at Warsaw summit" , Deutsche Welle , September 30, 2011.
- ↑ "Merkel meets Belarusian opposition before EU summit", Tagesschau , September 30, 2011. Belarusian President Lukashenko snubs Merkel
- ↑ "Brussels wants to deepen Eastern partnership" , NZZ , October 1, 2011.
- ^ "EU: Setting Up EaP Aims Prior To The Summit in 2013" , eastbook.eu , May 21, 2012.
- ^ "Eastern Partnership: Roadmap to the Summit in Autumn 2013" (PDF file; 76 kB)
- ↑ “Third Summit of the Eastern Partnership” ( Memento of October 27, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), europa.eu , October 25, 2013.
- ↑ "Ukraine stops agreement with the EU. More Moscow, less Brussels ” , tagesschau.de , November 21, 2013.
- ^ "Who will sign what in Vilnius" , Deutsche Welle , November 27, 2013. Date of query: December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Speech by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė at the signing ceremony of the agreements between the countries of the European Union and the Eastern Partnership , eu2013.lt, November 29, 2013. Date of retrieval: November 30, 2013.
- ↑ Nino Lejava, Konstanty Kuzma: Armenia: foreign policy between North and West . In: Heinrich Böll Foundation . ( boell.de [accessed October 25, 2017]).
- ↑ Barbara Oertel: Armenia between Russia and the EU: U-turn in Yerevan . In: The daily newspaper: taz . September 5, 2013, ISSN 0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed October 25, 2017]).
- ↑ "Juncker: 'We must create facts'" ( Memento from March 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), heute.de , March 21, 2014. Date of query: April 25, 2014.
- ↑ "Anniversary meeting of the Eastern Partnership in Prague has begun" , Tiroler Tageszeitung online , April 24, 2014. Query date: March 8, 2020.
- ↑ EU-Ukraine Association Agreement - the complete texts European External Action Service (eeas.europa.eu)
- ↑ EU-Moldova Association Agreement European External Action Service (eeas.europa.eu), EU Press release of 26 June 2014
- ↑ EU-Georgia Association Agreement European External Action Service (eeas.europa.eu), EU Press release of 26 June 2014
- ↑ EU sets Russia ultimatum , süddeutsche.de, June 27, 2014.
- ^ "Free trade agreement with Ukraine: EU wants to meet Putin" , süddeutsche.de, November 19, 2014.
- ^ "Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Riga in 2015" , August 8, 2013. Query date: December 15, 2014.
- ^ "Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga, 21-22 / 05/2015" consilium.europa.eu. Query date: May 21, 2015.
- ^ "Government declaration: Merkel excludes Ukraine from joining the EU" , Spiegel online , May 21, 2015. Query date: May 21, 2015.
- ↑ "EU Council President Tusk, Russia acts in a destructive, aggressive, intimidating way" " , FAZ online , May 21, 2015. Query date: May 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Summit in Riga: Cameron came, saw and rumbled" , Spiegel online , May 22, 2015. Date of query: May 22, 2015.
- ↑ "Riga: EU keeps Eastern partners at a distance" , Zeit online , May 22, 2015. Date of inquiry: May 23, 2015.
- ↑ Ukraine - EU seals visa exemption. May 17, 2017, accessed October 10, 2019 (German).
- ^ Till-Reimer Stoldt: Georgian gangs take advantage of the visa-free regime . February 18, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed October 10, 2019]).
- ↑ "Frequently asked questions about Schengen visa exemption for Moldovan citizens" ( Memento from December 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), German Embassy Chişinău.
- ↑ "Summit of not expecting too much" , Polskie Radio , May 29, 2015. Query date: February 8, 2016.
- ^ Eastern Partnership Summit - Joint Declaration (press release, November 24, 2017). Retrieved August 28, 2018 .
- ^ "Eastern Partnership Summit, 24.11.2017" , consilium.europa.eu . Query date: July 1, 2017.
- ↑ a b Michael Stabenow: "A Belt of Prosperity", FAZ , November 25, 2017.
- ^ "EU says no Eastern Partnership Summit in 2019" , New Europe , November 6, 2018.
- ^ "Planning Of Eastern Partnership Multilateral Events For 2019" , European External Action Service , press release, February 4, 2019.
- ^ "Eastern Partnership 10th Anniversary celebrated in Brussels" , European External Action Service , press release, May 15, 2019.
- ↑ Dominik Istrate: "Landmark Eastern Partnership summit ends without joint declaration" , Emerging Europe , May 15, 2019.
- ^ "Civil Society Forum strengthens Eastern Partnership" , europa.eu , November 16, 2009.
- ^ "Previous Meetings", civilsocietyforum.eu ( Memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Over 250 CSOs Gathered in Brussels to Discuss the Future of the Eastern Partnership at the 8th Annual Assembly
- ^ Civil Society Leaders Assembled in Tallinn to Debate on Tangible Results of the Eastern Partnership ahead of the Brussels Summit
- ↑ "Afgan Mukhtarli Becomes the Winner of the EaP CSF Pavel Sheremet Journalism Award 2017" , press release of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum , September 29, 2017. Query date: November 25, 2017.
- ^ Conference on the e-partnership “Trust in e-governance in countries of the Eastern Partnership” . In: EU2017.EE . June 2, 2017 ( eu2017.ee [accessed December 21, 2017]).
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