Resolution “Civil society’s position concerning Belarus’ participation in the Eastern Partnership”

We, participants of the Conference organized on the basis of the National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, are interested in the development of civil society in the country as a whole, including our own organizations. Uniting our efforts to develop civil society with the use of possibilities of this initiative, we mark obvious achievements and progress of both our organizations and civil society as a whole.

We constate that the Eastern Partnership programme initiated by the European Union for six Eastern countries-neighbors of the EU, including Belarus, has become a powerful stimulus to consolidate diversified structures, organizations, and individuals. We see a huge potential of the Eastern Partnership in the development of the EU countries-neighbors in the most key directions of the state, economic, ecological-energetical, public, and humanitarian policies, as well as in the continuation and deepening of European integration which does not compel our countries to obligatory join the EU in the near-term perspective.

We welcome the expansion, deepening, and concretization of all programs of the Eastern Partnership and we are ready to use our possibilities, abilities, and forces to achieve the purposes of the Eastern Partnership.

Participants of the Conference are acquainted with a change of the official position of Belarusian authorities concerning the initiative of the Eastern Partnership, revealed on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We consider this action to be unreasoned, situational, and unsound. The Eastern Partnership initiative has not lost its actuality for Belarus, but on the contrary — in the current situation in the country, civil society’s need and interest in this initiative is only increasing. The reason of the change of the official attitude to the Eastern Partnership initiative, declared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is that the state and its institutions are not ready to correspond to the ideals of uniting Europe and the high standards accepted in the modern world in the field of the state management, ecology, energetics, economy, and in relations between people, citizens of the states with good-neighborly relations.

Both state representatives of the Republic of Belarus and public figures, as well as the most part of civil society, evaluating realistically the conformity of norms and rules accepted in Belarus, to all directions of the Eastern Partnership, understand that we are still far from the ideals and standards of modern uniting Europe.

At the same time, we believe that the correct and necessary step is to move forward in order to achieve progress in all these directions and to approach to the declared ideals and standards accepted in modern society. The practice of avoiding and escaping from this process is not constructive and untenable.

We call the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus to reconsider their policy concerning the Eastern Partnership, to expand and to intensify participation of the country in all actions declared within its framework.

In return, we declare that we will keep participating in the development and implementation of the Eastern Partnership initiative within the scope of the Civil Society Forum and by initiating other forms and directions of interaction. 

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* The resolution is accepted by all participants of the Conference, except Valentina A. Matusevich (Belarusian party of women “Nadzieya”). V. Matusevich thinks that the provisions of the resolution implicitly admit that A. Lukashenka is a legitimate president, and she cannot share this opinion.

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