The Eastern Partnership and Its 14 "Buddies"

EaP Countries and supporters among the EU; EU21Global

Everyone needs friends. At times of important decisions - this applies even more. The eastern neighbours of the European Union have experienced that there are comparable difficulties on the way of European integration. However, there are some supporters among the EU member states. Various meetings at the national and regional level were hold for the purpose of demonstration of additional support for the Eastern partnership countries. The three Baltic countries Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Poland, Sweden and Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, the Nordic countries Denmark, Finland and Sweden, as well as Bulgaria and Romania and even Great Britain increasingly showed their support to further develop the Eastern Partnership and manage the European integration of the Eastern neighbours of the European Union. Additionally they send a clear signal to the EaP countries that there were indeed serious obstacles in the path of reforms in order to get closer to the European Union.

2011 - A Year for the Eastern Partnership?

2011 could be a crucial year for the development of the EU's Eastern Partnership. There are some initial steps towards deeper rapprochement, but 2011 could be a year where the EU and the partner countries should show their will for.

Javier Solana, José Manuel Barroso and Mirek Topolánek
during their speeches at the Eastern Partnership Summit.
Foto: Photographic service of the Council of the EU ©
European Communities

Eastern Partnership - Background

The EU's Eastern Partnership was initially a Polish-Swedish initiative but was taken over by the European Commission in December 2008 and endorsed by the European Council in March 2009, under the Czech EU Presidency. It aims to complete the Union's foreign policy towards Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus by developing a specific Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The countries concerned are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

EU's and Eastern Partners' Autumn 2010: Tipping Point in Terms of Rapprochement?

The Autumn 2010 is a season which promises to be eventful for the multilateral relations between the European Union and the Eastern Partnership countries Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaidshan.

However, there are different voices coming from the EU and the partner countries.

• The European Union's offer is dominated by the motto: So do not be annoyed by some more requirements for democracy, better implement the existing provisions of the Eastern Partnership initiatvie.
• The partner countries have the motto: So do not be annoyed by some more mistakes in our democracy, better adopt measures to facilitate greater accessibility of our citizens and goods.

The result could be integrated into the countries' and European Union's ongoing development and show where the two parts can do better.

Die Visegrad-Gruppe: Gruppe der Freunde der EU-Östlichen Partnerschaft

Am 2. März 2010 unterschrieben Polen, Tschechien, die Slowakei und Ungarn (bekannt als Visegrad-Gruppe) eine gemeinsame Erklärung. Diese sah die Gründung einer "Group of Friends" für die Östliche Partnerschaft vor.

Group of Friends. Hr. Hrisoskulov. All Rights reserved!