The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine demonstrate the best progress indicators among the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, shows a joint study of EaP countries entitled “Regional progress of the Eastern Partnership 2023”. The conclusions of the study were presented at a press conference at IPN, organized by the Foreign Policy Association (APE).
APE executive director Natalia Stercul, national coordinator of the project, said that the Eastern Partnership was developed and implemented by the European Union to bring closer together six states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. Making progress towards European integration, developing infrastructure projects and creating conditions that would meet the European standards in general were the main goals. The role of civil sector in the Eastern Partnership is significant because the vast majority of projects carried out by the European Union in the EaP countries are aimed at improving the efficiency and quality of life of the population.
The study of the regional progress of the Eastern Partnership covers foreign policy, security policy and defense sector. It also refers to economic progress, the social sphere, civil society and also issues that impact the population, such as the health system, improvement of the state’s ecosystem and others.
As to foreign policy, the APE executive director referred to the part concerning the fight for democracy. According to her, democratic tendencies have generally diminished worldwide. The roles of totalitarian regimes and their manifestation have expanded, including through the war in Ukraine and the impact on Moldova. However, regardless of the difficulties, the Moldovan Government showed that it can cope in such conditions. Particular progress in doing reforms is seen towards the end of the year. However, in such sectors as justice, human rights, especially in the Transnistrian region, difficulties are still encountered.
Natalia Stercul noted that the National Development Strategy 2030 is a document that will favor internal change and subsequent reforms. It is necessary to work more on deoligarchization, to strengthen state institutions. As regards the economy, in 2023 foreign trade with the European Union reached 52% of the total. This is a very good result. But even with such results, the range of products should be extended and the capacity to compete on the European market should be strengthened.
Sergiy Gerasymchuk, deputy executive director and director of the Regional Initiatives and Neighborhood Program of the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”, said that the project that measured progress within the Eastern Partnership has lasted for over three years. During this period, two countries received the EU candidate status and the opportunity to start negotiations, while Georgia was granted candidate status. As to civil society, this has been active in all six EaP countries. Even if Belarus has practically been wiped out, there are many civil initiatives working outside Belarus. Despite the difficulties in Azerbaijan, civil society is still working there. In Armenia, civil society has always been an agent of change and reform. It would be unfair to leave these countries aside, to forget the efforts of civil society just because Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia went forward, while Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus remained stagnant in the transformation process. In his opinion, the Eastern Partnership is not only about EU membership as it was created to improve the lives of citizens in countries that are in the immediate vicinity of the EU.
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