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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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Resolution on support of the Eastern Partnership Programme passed at the Stockholm meeting of the Civil Society Forum on November 30, 2012Tagged under Resolution on support of the Eastern Partnership Programme passed at the Stockholm meeting of the Civil Society Forum on November 30, 2012
The Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership at its fourth annual meeting in Stockholm on the 29 and 30 of November 2012 reiterates its support for the European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) programme. The CSF reminds the leaders of the EU that this programme is an essential part of the EU’s foreign and neighbourhood policy. The EaP aims to bring peace, security, democracy and a market economy to Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The CSF is grateful to the European Commission and the European External Action Service for the organizational, financial and moral support which they have given both to the CSF and to the constituent non-governmental organisations in the EaP countries which have sought to underpin reform programmes working, at times, in a challenging environment. The CSF welcomes the establishment of the European Endowment for Democracy which promises to be an important and much needed democracy support instrument in the UE’s neighbourhood of which the Eastern Partnership countries are an important part. Indeed the EaP programme is crucial to building functioning democracies operating under the rule of law in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood. The EaP is a source of inspiration to campaigners for human rights in the partner countries and marks the implementation of the ideals on which the EU is based. The EU’s budgetary programme for the 2014 – 2020 periods is currently being discussed with a view to making necessary savings which reflect difficult economic realities. Accordingly the CSF suggests that special care should be taken when reviewing spending on eastern neighbourhood programmes in order that the current momentum for reform should not be lost. The CSF reminds the leaders of the EU member states that the programme requires constant support and attention from the highest level and strongly urges them to attend the forthcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in the autumn of 2013. |
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