Azerbaijan , Baku, Sept. 26 / Trend /
"The Eastern Partnership Conference: Towards a European Community of democracy, prosperity and a stronger civil society" will be held in Warsaw on Sept.29 , 2011.
More than 200 participants are expected to attend the international conference about the EU's relations with its Eastern partners, including prominent representatives of EU institutions, EU member states and partner countries. Radosław Sikorski (Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland), Jerzy Buzek (President of the European Parliament), S tefan F u le (European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy), David Bakradze (Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia) and Nick Clegg ( Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) have confirmed their intent to attend. Others planning to attend include civil society representatives, experts on the region and 30 EaP Civil Society Forum representatives from partner countries.
Trend Agency provides information support to the conference.
The aim of the conference is to develop recommendations for the inclusion of civil society activities in the Eastern Partnership. It is an accompanying event to the Polish EU Presidency and the Eastern Partnership summit (scheduled for Sept.30 , 2011). It is organised by the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW, www.osw.waw.pl), the EaP Civil Society Forum (www.eap-csf.eu) and the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM, www.pism.pl .) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland is a conference partner. The conference is co-funded by the European Union.
The conference will be divided into four sessions. Session one will attempt to answer the question about what is required to empower civil societies ("What Partnership for citizens?"). In session two, experts will discuss the effects of open borders on the promotion of democracy ("Promoting EU democratic values and standards through opening borders"). Session three will focus on the economic prospects for the EU of improved integration with its Eastern neighbors ("Building prosperity. Challenges to the economic integration of the EU's Eastern partners"). The last session of the conference will be a discussion about the status of the Eastern Partners' integration with the EU.
The Eastern Partnership was launched at the initiative of Poland and Sweden at the summit in Prague in May 2009. Its goal is to deepen the political cooperation and economic integration of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine with the European Union.
The agenda and all information related to the conference are available at www.eap.pism.pl and www.easternpartnership.org.