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Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

05.09.08: EU ministers map out Georgia peace mission - 0 views

  • The final shape of an EU security mission to Georgia and broader EU-Russia relations will top the agenda of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in France this weekend. The possibility of relaxing sanctions against Belarus and prospects for a new Ukraine treaty will also come up for debate.
  • It remains uncertain if the unit will be composed of EU-badged policemen or soldiers however, if it will stand alongside OSCE monitors or be part of an OSCE-led team and if it will have access to the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
  • The Avignon meeting will also examine if the EU should relax sanctions against Belarus, which last month released three political prisoners and promises to hold its free and fairest-ever parliamentary elections on 28 September.
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  • The Evian summit had been due to see the signing of the political chapter of a new "Association Agreement" and the launch of talks for future visa-free travel to Europe. But Germany has blocked the insertion of a phrase saying the EU "recognizes" Ukraine's accession "perspective" in the treaty preamble, with Ukraine saying it will not sign a watered-down text.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

17.12.08: Czechs to widen EU-US summit to more nations - 0 views

  • Outlining some of the main priories of the incoming Czech EU Presidency, Milena Vicenova, the Czech ambassador to the bloc in Brussels, said her country would seek to hold an "informal summit" with the US in Prague, involving the leaders of the bloc's 27 member states in a departure from the usual European 'troika' format of delegations.
  • Meanwhile, the Czech ambassador also said her country would follow up on proposals tabled by the European Commission earlier this month to develop an Eastern Partnership to improve ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and particularly Ukraine.
  • The Czech ambassador also expressed her hope that the European elections, which are scheduled to take place on 4-7 June 2009, would be a success. "We will do everything in our power to avoid low turnout our voter apathy, and we hope to keep a positive spirit."
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  • EU official documents Czech EU Presidency: Website Czech EU Presidency: Priorties
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

18.09.08: Balkans model to underpin EU's 'Eastern Partnership' - 0 views

  • EU policies applied to the Western Balkans - such as a regional free trade area - are inspiring the "Eastern Partnership" with Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and "hopefully" Belarus, participants at a conference organized Wednesday (17 September) by the German Konrad Adenauer think-tank learned.
  • Initially a Polish-Swedish proposal endorsed in June by all member states, the Eastern Partnership is designed to deepen ties with the "European neighbours" to the east, balancing the 'Mediterranean Union' with the southern "neighbours of Europe," as Polish MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski put it. The Georgian conflict sped up the process of drafting the eastern policy by the European Commission, with president Jose Manuel Barroso scheduled to sketch out the main features already at the EU summit on 15 October.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

03.04.08: EU eants targeted deepening of relations with neighbours - 0 views

  • The EU wants to "deepen" its ties with four of its neighbours - Ukraine, Moldova, Morocco and Israel - external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in Brussels on Thursday (3 April).
  • The ENP covers Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine, as well as the Palestinian Authority. It was designed with the aim of offering EU neighbours closer – or privileged – cooperation with the bloc, but it does not foresee eventual EU membership, a fact repeated regularly by Brussels. But referring to Ukraine, Ms Ferrero-Waldner noted: "For the future, nothing is ruled out and nothing is ruled in, the [EU] door is neither open nor closed."
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

26.05.08: Poland and Sweden defend 'Eastern initiative - 0 views

  • A new proposal by Sweden and Poland to strengthen the EU's ties with its eastern neighbours to be officially presented today is not meant to undermine but rather enhance existing EU policies, according to a draft paper obtained by EurActiv.
  • Mirroring the countries already covered by the ENP scheme, the new initiative aims to improve ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and particularly Ukraine. The draft paper suggests that a new Enhanced Partnership Agreement (EPA) currently being negotiated with Ukraine "could serve as a reference" for other countries. 
  • The new initiative is seen as a complement to the French-driven 'Union for the Mediterranean' proposal, but unlike the original French vision, the Polish-Swedish proposal clearly states that it would be embedded into existing EU structures and does not seek additional funding but is financed solely out of the ENP budget.
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  • Links Governments Ukrainian Mission to the EU: STATEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF UKRAINE REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EASTERN DIMENSION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY Joint Polish-Swedish proposal Draft Paper
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

08.03.07: Ukraine changes tone on EU enlargement - 0 views

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    Ukraine president Viktor Yushchenko said in Brussels on Thursday (8 March) it is more important to focus on economic integration than EU enlargement in a change of tone from previous statements, with Brussels and Kiev also keen to work together on political change in an increasingly unstable Belarus.
    "In my opinion there is no use now in overloading the topic of our bilateral relations," Mr Yushchenko said, after meeting EU top diplomat Javier Solana a few hours before the start of the EU summit. "I am trying to make our relations constructive and not even to publicly discuss what will be the name of that agreement," he added, referring to talks on a new EU-Ukraine bilateral treaty. [...]

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Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

European Parliament: Strasbourg Plenary session 11-14 December - 0 views

  • The last Strasbourg plenary of the year will be one the busiest for MEPs. Parliament will vote in second-reading on a compromise between MEPs and the Council on the "REACH" chemical package. Parliament will also vote on the approval of Romanian and Bulgarian Commissioners-designate before the two countries join the EU on 1 January 2007. Belarus opposition leader Aliaksandr Milinkevich will be awarded the 2006 Sakharov Prize for "Freedom of Thought" by Parliament's President Josep Borrell.
Prof. Dr  Wolfgang Schumann

27.11.09: Beefed up enlargement portfolio delights eastern neighbours - 0 views

  • The merger of European enlargement with neighbourhood policy in a single portfolio headed by a Czech EU diplomat is raising hopes in eastern countries such as Moldova and Georgia about their long-term European future. The list of portfolios unveiled Friday by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barros includes a single post for enlargement and neighbourhood policy, taken by Czech EU affairs minister and former ambassador to Brussels Stefan Fuele. Currently part of the Commission's foreign policy dossier, relations with EU's southern and eastern neighbours will be mainly managed by Mr Fuele "in close co-operation" with the new top diplomat and commission vice-president Catherine Ashton.
  • The move is good news particularly for the six countries in the so-called Eastern Partnership policy launched under the Czech EU presidency earlier this year - Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The first three have already openly been advocating to be included in the bloc's enlargement policy.
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