The members of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum met in Brussels on 1-2 February for their first meeting of this year to define the main priorities of the Forum and to adopt the annual plan for 2017. The meeting began addressing two major issues concerning the Eastern Partnership. The SC
In context of the visit of Azerbaijan President Ilham to Brussels, the panel highlighted the continued human rights violations in Azerbaijan, including the detention of activists and journalists, and the severe restrictions imposed civil society organisations and their access to funding. The speakers addressed the crucial role of the EU in insisting on clear human
The policy paper “Higher Education Reform in light of Bologna Process: opportunities, obstacles, context” was produced within the project “Higher Education Reforms Reinforcement in Eastern Partnership countries”, supported by the EaP CSF Re-granting scheme. The paper was prepared by The Humanitarian Techniques’ Agency and its partners, the Belarusian Independent Bologna Committee, Social and Kultural Innovation Lab
The Belarusian Independent Bologna Committee (BIBC) and Ad Hoc Commission of Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (BNP EaP CSF) released the 4th Monitor Report of the Roadmap implementation for higher education reform in Belarus for the period October 2016-January 2017. The document analysed the progress made by the Belarusian authorities
The Belarusian National Platform for the EaP CSF addressed the Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowskiexpressing their concern over the future of the independent channel Belsat TV. The Polish government intends to significantly cut the funding for the TV channel and stop broadcasting in Belarusian language. Belarusian civil society is open to and interested in discussing the
On 5 December 2016 the Eastern Partnership Multilateral Platform 1 meeting took place in Brussels. The discussions covered the recent developments and pressing issues concerning the democratic development and good governance in the Eastern Partnership which include the implementation report and outlook towards the next Eastern Partnership Summit of 2017 and the updated on the activity of the Euronest
On 18 October 2016 Luxembourg hosted the first formal ministerial meeting dedicated to environment and climate change between the Ministers of Environment from the EU and the six EaP countries. European Commissioners Karmenu Vella (Environment, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs) and Johannes Hahn (European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations) were also present at the event along with civil society organisations and experts from the EU
The EaP CSF Working Group 3 “Environment, climate change and energy security” held its Annual Meeting on 13-15 September in Brussels. The event covered topics related to waste management, sustainable development and renewable energy. Before the work of the Annual Meeting began, WG3 members participated in a joint training with WG2 members. The training was conducted by the
On 20-21 September members of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum held their fourth meeting in Chisinau, which also hosted the EaP CSF Human Rights Conference “On the frontline” one day earlier. The Steering Committee welcomed the release of Hovsep Khurshudyan and expressed the need to make efforts that would lead
