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ECFR Berlin & The Heinrich-B?ll-Stiftung: ?Europe?s East - Ideas for the EU?s policy vis-?-vis its eastern neighbours?

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All countries in the eastern neighbourhood region have experienced deep crises of transformation following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Authoritarian forms of government have become entrenched in most of them. Repressive regimes, chronic human-rights abuses, monopolistic economic structures and rampant corruption pose significant long-term risks to stability along the EU’s external borders. It is therefore in the EU’s own interest to help societies in eastern Europe establish democratic governance and rule of law.

To date, there has been little sign of a joint European policy guided by shared European interests and marked by coherence and a clear message toward Russia and the countries of the Eastern Partnership. The different attitudes among the old and new members of the EU must be respected and reconciled wherever possible in an open consultation process in order to develop a common policy toward eastern Europe. We see this as a core European policy challenge for the coming years.

Please find further details and the Agenda here.