Analytics, Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Legislation

”Holder of the EU Presidency in the first half of 2015, Latvia was a leader twice for its actions towards the Eastern neighborhood. The country stood out in supporting a strong and united sanctions policy towards Russia and took action to strengthen commitment towards Eastern Partnership countries, especially while hosting the Riga Summit,” the ECRF report said, adding that Latvia was a slacker for a relatively low contribution on humanitarian aid for the crisis in the Middle East.

Estonia was listed among leaders twice – both on issues related to its Eastern neighborhood. „It continued to push for a strong and united sanctions policy towards Russia. It has also made aiding Eastern Partnership countries in reform and European integration central in its foreign policy,” the report said. At the same time, Estonia was once named among slackers for its response to China's human rights situation.

Lithuania was a leader three times. „It stood out in supporting strong sanctions against Russia, supporting commitment towards Eastern Partnership countries, and supporting Ukraine, in particular in a time when there was a risk of it dropping off the European agenda. It was also a slacker three times in the group of at the top of the slacker board – for its low levels of troop deployment abroad, relatively low humanitarian aid to the Middle East and its reluctance to draw attention to the human rights situation in relations with China,” the ECRF report said.

The European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2016 will be presented in Latvia on March 1. The event and a discussion about the Baltic foreign policy will be attended by Latvia’s former president Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the Latvian Foreign Ministry’s State Secretary, Andrejs Pildegovics, and other experts, the Latvian Institute of International Affairs said.

The European Foreign Policy Scorecard, produced by ECFR annually, provides a systematic assessment of Europe’s foreign policy performance, analyzing the performance of the 28 member states and the EU institutions on 65 policy areas.