The sensitive challenges are expected from the Eastern Partnership Summit participants

Belarusian civil society expects from the Eastern Partnership Summit participants to elaborate an active position on the current challenges for Belarus. 

This was announced during the meeting of the EU Delegation to Belarus representatives and the participants of the National Platform for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, that took place in Minsk on September, the 26^th.

As Maira Mora, Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus stated at the meeting, Belarus can be proud of the fact that its representatives are among the most active participants of the Eastern Partnership program. However, Maira Mora expressed regret that the Belarusian members of the EaP are engaged only in one dimension of the Eastern Partnership. However, even such participation of Belarus in the program can benefit the Belarusian people.

According to the Head of EU Delegation in Belarus, the EU welcomes the recent steps taken by the country’s authorities to release political leaders and opposition activists. However, the EU position remains steadfast: all the political prisoners must be released from the Belarusian jails.

Radosłav Darski, Second Secretary of the Polish Embassy in Belarus, and Ramūnas Yanušauskas, Political Affairs Officer of the EU, concentrated more specifically on the forthcoming Summit program. According to them, the main purpose of the event would be an adoption of a declaration which would become the main policy document of the Eastern Partnership program for the next two years.

Co-chair of the EaP Civil Society Forum Ulad Vialichka told in detail about the "The Eastern Partnership Conference: towards a European Community of democracy, prosperity and a stronger civil society”, scheduled on September, the 29^th in Warsaw. This Conference will be devoted to considerable attention to ensuring the publicity and public inclusion in the Eastern Partnership initiative, as well as to various aspects of support of the forthcoming Summit.

However, if this speech had of an informative nature, the next speaker, Director of the Centre for European Transformation Andrei Yahorau, focused on the dynamics of the Eastern Partnership development and the related problems. According to him, Belarus is the only one of the six participating countries, involved in the Eastern Partnership initiative only partially. And such incomplete involvement weakens the whole initiative.

According to Andrei Yahorau, all the success achieved by the Civil Society Forum is the result of consolidation at the national level. However, currently the Belarusian National Platform for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum development is reducing, as it requires institutionalization. As Andrei Yahorau noted, in the network of the National Platform there is need to create a steering committee as to quickly respond to changing political circumstances.

These and other issues were raised during the debates that took place after the scheduled speeches. Answering the question, whether attention would be paid to the Belarusian issue in the forthcoming Summit declaration, the EC Delegation representatives explained that the document was being under development.

The most clearly and concisely the most sensitive issues of the Belarusian civil society had been stated by the head of the Centre for Legal Transformation Elena Tonkacheva, these are: the human rights’ challenges, the presence of political prisoners in Belarus and the absence of real political dialogue in the country.

The Delegation representatives promised that the raised issues on the Conference would be handed over to the EU leadership.

Maira Mora, Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus 

Ulad Vialichka, Chairperson of International Consortium “EUROBELARUS”,
Co-chair of the EaP Civil Society Forum

Andrei Yahorau, Director of the Centre for European Transformation