NGO forum conclusions: «The people of Belarus should not suffer because of a criminal regime» :: Charter'97 :: News

1. Europe is at a critical juncture. The enlargements of the EU and NATO have made Europe more united, more secure and more prosperous than ever before. Europe, however, is not yet “whole, and free, and at peace”. Enlargement has helped to advance that vision, but some Europeans countries remain outside the main Euroatlantic institutions – NATO and the EU. Human rights, freedom and democracy is not yet a given in Belarus and Russia. Finally, peace has still to be won and “frozen” conflicts resolved in Moldova, Georgia, Nagorno Karabakh and Chechnya.

2. Europe’s re-unification project cannot be finished without the new Eastern European democracies. The Euroatlantic community needs a common vision and a concerted, imaginative effort, encompassing political, economic, social, and, when necessary, military measures. Europe’s power of attraction may not be sufficient to offset Russia’s power of compulsion. The Euroatlantic community needs a brave new agenda to clearly assert its will and interests in Europe’s East.

3. The EU’s Neighborhood Policy has not lived up to expectations for a truly common foreign policy effort. The ENP’s focus on the new Eastern European democracies should be reinforced. Anchoring these countries to the Euroatlantic community is a strategic imperative for Europe’s long term security. The EU needs a bolder, more consistent and coherent foreign and security policy towards the Europe’s East before it is “too little, too late”. The EU has to develop an active policy for promotion of democracy as well as adequate instruments to support in a direct and flexible manner democratic entities and civil societies in the Eastern Europe.

4. The economic agenda of the Euroatlantic community for Europe’s East is every bit as important as the political one. Processes of economic liberalization have become the dominant trend in the new Europe. However, there are exceptions to the rule with Belarus still clinging to the command economy, Russia reinstating state intervention and central control over the „strategic sectors“ of the economy, and separatist entities (Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia) resisting both national reintegration and international integration. The old and new democracies of Europe should make increased efforts to persuade these countries and entities to join the mainstream.

5. The experience of the EU has demonstrated that free market economies can thrive only on fair competition. This, in turn, requires a political system based on the rule of law. The strengthening of legal institutions, including the freeing of the judiciary from political control, therefore, should form part of the overall reform effort. In this respect, the importance of non-governmental institutions should also receive due recognition. NGOs can serve as an effective corrective to corruption in government and stimulus to other political and economic reforms. Their national activities and transnational cooperation thus deserves full legal protection and political support.

6. The new Eastern European democracies should devise policies and institute legal norms that would facilitate later accession to the acquis communautaire. The EU, in turn, should give more substance to the ENP by further improving and adapting the Action Plans along the lines, for instance, of the advanced Action Plan elaborated with Ukraine. The EU should also send signals that successful implementation of Action Plans could eventually facilitate EU membership. The EU’s relations with Russia – not formally part of ENP – should be coordinated with the Action Plans and made part of one single approach. The Four Common Spaces could be used as a frame of reference but the extensive “road maps” of possible measures should be shortened, a list of priorities formulated, and implementation be set in motion.

7. The establishment of a free trade area with all the European countries not (yet) members of the EU should be one of the guiding principles of the common vision for all of Europe. Corresponding policies should aim at removing still existing trade barriers, protectionism and subsidization. Such policies would contribute significantly to economic development in the new democracies. EU members and non-EU countries should vehemently oppose policies that use perceived or real economic dependencies as means of political pressure. In this context, Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organisation should be finalized as soon as possible in order to open the door for the free trade agreement and, possibly, the association with the EU.

8. The improvement of energy security should be one of Europe’s political and economic priorities. Russia’s use of energy supplies as a geopolitical tool causes a particular concern, prompting to the need for the EU to launch a common energy strategy in the face of a common security challenge. An important element of this strategy could be ratification of the Energy Charter Treaty, including Transit Protocol by those European countries which have not done so. Europe should also seek to further diversification of the sources of supply both according to geographic origin and resource base and devise vigorous programs for the development of alternative sources of energy.

9. It is necessary to call upon Russia to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the Euroatlantic community. The EU and NATO should not shy away from raising difficult questions to Russia about its ambiguous role in the “frozen conflicts” and support to regimes that hold rigged elections. The official Russian support to Lukashenka’s regime especially compromises Russia’s democratic credentials.

10. The “frozen conflicts” should not become “forgotten conflicts”; otherwise they may well have severe consequences to entire regions. Both NATO and the EU should pursue a more pro-active policy of conflict resolution. No other institutions have more political, economic and military leverage to attain a substantial breakthrough in the current stalemate of “frozen conflicts”.

11. Kaliningrad region must be kept on European neighborhood agenda. Russia has not yet delivered on its promises to turn this region into a pilot project in EU-Russia relations. The EU and its member states should continue pursuing active relations with the region to ease its international isolation, imposed by Russia. Otherwise, the EU may face numerous soft security challenges stemming from Kaliningrad due to worsening social, economic and crime situation and degrading health and environment standards.

12. The countries of the Community of Democratic Choice – first and foremost Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova – face a double challenge: they must carry out rapid, painful and all-encompassing domestic reforms; and at the same time prove their democratic, European credentials. The Eastern European countries must understand that integration is a two way street – whatever the political and strategic considerations, both the EU and NATO will condition membership perspective upon an aspirant’s ability to meet the strict membership criteria. The new European neighbors will have to deliver on many accounts from market reforms, administrative capacity to fighting corruption and organized crime.

13. The people of Belarus should not suffer because of a criminal regime. The EU and NATO should continue a consistent policy line of isolating and pressuring Lukashenka’s regime, while reinvigorating efforts to help the fledgling civil society of Belarus, which has made its voice heard during the recent fraudulent presidential elections in Belarus. As anti-democratic forces have proven in Serbia and Montenegro, Georgia, and Ukraine, tanks and guns cannot overwhelm the spirit of freedom. NGO forum supports the initiative to start an international public trial of Lukashenko’s regime and ideology of lukashism.

14. Europe is first and foremost an idea, not a geographic entity with definitive borders. The people – those who define themselves as Europeans – should ultimately define the idea of Europe, not artificial geographical barriers or prejudices. A new brave common vision for a common neighborhood is necessary. The Euroatlantic academic and NGO community believes that there is no alternative to a democratic choice. In the end, only democracies can integrate with each other, and only integration can help withstand the challenges of globalization and reap its benefits.

May 3rd, Wednesday (Vilnius)