Azerbaijan, Baku, May 19 / Trend E. Ostapenko /
The second Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum will take place November 18-19, 2010 in Berlin, an announcement on the European Commission's Eastern Partnership webpage said.
The overall aim of the Forum is "to promote contacts among Civil Society Organisations and facilitate their dialogue with public authorities" in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
The "Eastern Partnership" does not envisage the possibility of EU membership. It involves political and economic rapprochement of six post-Soviet countries with this regional organization, including the facilitation of visa regime, energy cooperation, the introduction of free trade zones. Small projects on student exchange, environmental protection, energy supply will be made.
The constituent summit of the Eastern Partnership was held May 7, 2009 at the Prague summit. The EU will provide member-states with 600 million euros, which are designed to strengthen state institutions, control of borders and help small businesses within the project.
The announcement said the meeting would give an opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved since November 2009 when the initial meeting of the Forum took place.
The Forum will be open for all Civil Society Organisations irrespective of their participation in the previous Civil Society Forum's meeting.