EU Eastern Policy in the Light of Slovak Presidency in the EU Council

24. October 2016 - Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Hlboká cesta 2, Bratislava

Program Study Report Gallery

The aim of the conference is to discuss EU policy towards Eastern Europe with focus on topical issues that frame its current agenda under Slovak Presidency in the EU Council 2016. The one-day conference will, first, examine prospects for further development of the EU relations with Russia, including sanction policy against the implementation of the Minsk agreements; second, evaluate situation in Ukraine with focus on reform progress and factors of domestic political (un)stability; third, analyse potential for cooperation between the Visegrad countries and Ukraine in the field of energy; and finally, assess Slovak-Ukrainian interaction when it comes to management of the EU external border.

Partners: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic

The conference EU Eastern Policy in the light of the Slovak Presidency in the EU Council is held under the auspices of the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Media partner: EurActiv.sk

Conference is part of the project „Sharing European integration know-how and CBC experience between Norway and Russia with Ukraine“, CBC01014.

The second panel of the event is organized within the European project EU Presidency Project for the Slovak EU Presidency 2016 that is implemented by the Slovak NGDO Platform. It is funded by the European Commission. Slovak Foreign Policy Association is the member organization of the Slovak NGDO Platform.

PROGRAM (PDF)

For a European Progressive Eastern Policy

Table of Contents:

  • INTRODUCTION
  • RUSSIA: HANDLING A DIFFICULT PARTNER (Niels Annen)
  • FROM THE “YEAR OF FRIENDSHIP” TO MH17 (Arjen Berkvens)
  • FOR A EUROPEAN PROGRESSIVE EASTERN POLICY: POLAND’S PERSPECTIVE (Ireneusz Bil, Jedrzej Czerep, and Maciej Olchawa)
  • ROMANIA AND THE EU’S EASTERN POLICY (Ioan Mircea Pascu)
  • “WHAT IS THE DEFINING OBJECTIVE OF THE EU’S FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY? (Georgi Pirinski)

    Anastasia Kluter, Reinhard Krumm: For a European Progressive Eastern Policy (PDF)


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The conference was opened with welcome words and introductory remarks by Anne Seyffert, Director of the FES in the Czech and Slovak Republic, Alexander Duleba, Director of RC SFPA, and a key note speech by State Secretary of the Slovak MFAE Lukáš Parízek. In his address State Secretary Lukáš Parízek highlighted main positions of Slovak Presidency regarding the topical issues of the EU policy towards East European countries. As far as Russia is concerned he stressed that that SK PRES follows the agreement on five principles of the EU policy towards Russia achieved at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in March 2016, including the first one, which says that any change in the EU sanctions policy on Russia is directly linked to the implementation of the Minsk agreements on settlement of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. The following two are the top challenges in the EU Ukraine relations that are high on the agenda of SK PRES: first, completion of the approval process regarding the lifting of visa regime with Ukraine on side of the EU institutions, and second, ratification of the association agreement with Ukraine by the Netherlands. When it comes to visa liberalisation with Ukraine, SK PRES accepts conclusions of the European Commission that Ukraine met all legislative and technical requirements for introduction of visa-free regime and advocates Member States to finalize the approval procedure. When it comes to ratification of association agreement by the Netherlands, SK PRES is ready to support and work with any proposal the Dutch government can identify as a walkable way to resolve the issue in the Dutch parliament. State Secretary Parízek pointed out that successful reform process in Ukraine as well as implementation of its association agreement with the EU is the long-term priority for Slovakia.

Full conference report (PDF)