Grigorij Mesežnikov: McCain supports democratic changes in Eastern Partnership countries

The Eastern Partnership should facilitate democratic changes in Belarus and other countries of the initiative.

Grigorij Mesežnikov, the president of Slovakia-based Institute for Public Affairs, said it in an interview with charter97.org. The politologist took part in Globsec, the largest security forum in Central and Eastern Europe, that was held in Bratislava on June 19-21. Grigorij Mesežnikov met with US senator John McCain and presented him the document prepared within the framework of Charter97's project “Eastern Partnership: European response to Eurasia”.

“This is the first document that gave a start to our analytical work in the framework of the joint project that unites several centres of the Visegrad Group, Ukraine, Russia and Belarus,” he said. “It is about the EU's initiative Eastern Partnership and its prospects. In particular, the document considers the opportunity for the EaP member states to move along the European path, taking into account their different statuses. We think the European Union should work out the approach for each of the country that would best suit both the Union's and the country's interests.

The goal of our joint project is to define the conditions that will help the movement of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine to Europe and help the protection of democratic values in the confrontation with the trends coming from the East. We contacted representatives of the EU political forces. In the context of the Eastern Partnership programme, we want them to, firstly, take into account interests of the programme participants and, secondly, adhere to their principles and create conditions so that the participation in the initiative could strengthen the democratic direction of the development of the EaP members.

I gave the document to John McCain at Globsec Forum in Bratislava, and he promised to work with it.”

– What did senator McCain say at the forum in Bratislava? Did he speak about Belarus?

– The meeting with the senator was held in the local office of the International Republican Institute that he chairs. It gathered about 20 people – representatives of NGOs, civil society and political parties. John McCain assessed the current situation in Eastern Europe, relations between the West and Russia and the conflict in Donbas. He expressed his position and confirmed that he stood for tough methods aimed at supporting independent democratic Ukraine.

John McCain spoke about all countries under the pressure of Russia. Despite the fact that the main topic was the situation in Ukraine, it was absolutely clear that he supports their movement in the direction of the European Union and the democratic world. It is evident that Russia does its best to weaken or hinder the movement of these countries to the EU and supports their authoritarian regimes. The senator emphasised the importance of the support for democratic forces in countries of the Eastern Partnership.