BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/03/2009

EU Set To Back 'Ambitious' Partnership For Belarus, Other Ex-Soviet Neighbors

By Ahto Lobjakas

BRUSSELS -- After weeks of fierce internal debate, EU leaders are set to put their seal of approval on a new outreach program for ex-Soviet neighbors called the Eastern Partnership.

There had been doubts that Belarus would ultimately be included in the program alongside the five other intended target countries -- Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

But despite deep misgivings on the part of a number of EU states, a draft version of a summit declaration circulating on the closing day of the two-day gathering in Brussels and seen by RFE/RL, includes Belarus on the list.

The European Union thus appears to have decided to extend to Minsk the benefit of the doubt for the time being -- despite its deeply problematic rights record. The EU has yet to decide whether to invite the country's autocratic leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, to the Eastern Partnership's "launching summit" in Prague on May 7, along with the leaders of the other five countries. Diplomats say a quick decision is unlikely.

New Phase

The EU leaders' expected endorsement of the Eastern Partnership project is intended to signal a new phase in the bloc's engagement with the countries of the former Soviet Union.

The draft summit statement says the countries are of "strategic importance" to the EU. Correspondingly, the EU promises to promote stability and prosperity in the region and holds out the prospect of closer "political association and economic integration."

The initiative, first conceived last year, became a matter of urgency for the EU after the Russian-Georgian war in August. The draft declaration on the Eastern Partnership does not mention Russia by name. But EU politicians and officials say the project is intended to offer neighbors an alternative to Russian influence.

The EU's more ambitious post-Soviet neighbors, Ukraine and Georgia among them, have long complained the bloc's attempts to engage them have lacked a clear agenda, and have been halting at best.

The summit decision is unlikely to fully assuage concerns in Kyiv and Tbilisi. The EU offers the six countries dialogue and cooperation on the basis of joint decisions, but "without prejudice to the decision making autonomy of the EU." There is no mention of a membership prospect. Instead, visa-free travel and free trade are identified as the only tangible goals for the partners.

'Platforms' For Cooperation

Broader cooperation will be founded on four "platforms" -- democracy, good governance, and stability; economic integration and convergence with EU policies; energy security; and contacts between people.

The draft summit declaration says leaders of the EU and the six partner countries will meet every two years, and foreign ministers once a year. Unlike the Union for the Mediterranean, a parallel EU outreach drive set up last year for its southern neighbors, the Eastern Partnership will not have permanent institutions.

The draft statement says the EU will make an extra 600 million euros available for the project. So far, the EU had earmarked 11 billion for its Eastern and Southern neighbors between 2007-2013.

The draft says "shared values, including democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights," as well as the "principles of market economy" will be at the core of the partnership. But EU officials admit the conditionality involved is weaker than that of an earlier initiative, the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), which still excludes Belarus.

Counterweight To Moscow

Pushed to explain the difference between the Eastern Partnership and the ENP, EU officials say the new partnership program is a "multilateral" forum -- indicating the EU's recognition that it needs to engage the region as a whole if it is to provide a credible counterweight to Russia.

However, the Eastern Partnership is not expected to change fundamentally the way the EU interacts with its neighbors on a day-to-day basis.

In future, as in the past, rights abuses and other infringements of what the draft EU declaration refers to as "shared values" will be addressed bilaterally, within the framework of cooperation treaties between the EU and the individual countries.

The Eastern Partnership project is not intended to supplant or significantly modify the EU's involvement in the region's crises. Diplomats say bilateral links, efforts channeled through international organizations such as the United Nations and the OSCE, and direct contacts with Russia -- a key player in any regional conflict -- will remain the mainstays of EU diplomatic action.

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Set_To_Approve_Ambitious_Eastern_Partnership_For_Six_ExSoviet_Neighbors/1513731.html

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