GLOBSEC 2011  –  "The Eastern Partnership 2.0"

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank the organizers of this event for the opportunity to address such an honourable audience and to share with you my thoughts on a topic so actual and important to us. Firstly, I would like to present our Slovak priorities in the Eastern Partnership. Secondly, I wish to share with you the main achievements of our yesterday’s extended V4 ministerial meeting. I believe this meeting will contribute to moving the Eastern Partnership forward with new dynamism. It is too early to say whether we will bring the Eastern Partnership to a new level at the Warsaw summit later this year. But I want to assure you that our ambitions are high!

Ladies and gentlemen,

I want to reconfirm that the Slovak priority is to have meaningful and visible EU policy in the Eastern neighbourhood through the Eastern Partnership. Our key goal is to have a stable, democratic and prosperous neighbourhood. Slovakia supports European aspirations of Partner Countries, subject to their genuine interest and readiness. Our support is based on individual approach to each Partner. Everyone needs adequate incentives underpinned by suitable means. We want these countries to enjoy European stability and prosperity together with us. The EU has much to offer. But this is a challenge also for our Eastern partners. We need to see fast and credible effort and deep reforms on their side.

Turbulent events of these days in the countries of our Southern neighbourhood attract major part of our attention, and rightly so. However, we consider it important to maintain balance between the two Neighbourhood Policy dimensions – East and South.

There is one lesson to be learned from the developments in the Southern Neighbourhood, which is fully valid also for the Eastern partnership. Notably that all people want freedom, democracy, and life in dignity. The examples of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia show, that every dictatorship has its end. Only such regimes have perspective that respect human rights and pluralism in the society and free market, competition and private ownership in the economy. On the contrary, blocked or delayed democratic reforms lead to social frustration.

Commitment to fundamental European values and principles is the keystone for the Eastern Partnership. We have learned from our own experience how difficult it is to establish a genuine democracy. We know the price of democracy and its irreplaceable role in the transformation of our society. Therefore we closely follow the situation in Belarus and demand to stop political repression and harassment of the opposition, independent media and civil society, and to release all political prisoners. We are convinced that totalitarian regimes have no future in Europe.

During the last two days I had a chance to talk to the representatives of the Belarusian opposition as well as to the representative of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. At these meetings I delivered several clear messages:
-    The crackdown of the 19th December demonstration and the persecution that followed are unacceptable.
-    We are not going to discuss with Lukashenko any other issues, before the political prisoners are released and the persecution ends.
-    EU must show firmness and speak with one voice. We have to prove our commitment to human rights, we have to clearly manifest, that the EU is based on values.

Ladies and gentlemen,

There is a strong symbolism that 20 years ago the V4 countries decided to join forces in their efforts to integrate into the European and Transatlantic community. Today, we are joining our efforts in promoting our European values further to the East. The added value of the V4 in the Eastern Partnership is our unique transformation experience. Our countries underwent the whole process of transformation and made deep structural reforms. Our countries established a precedent worth following – we provide an example of successful enlargement, a tangible success of European ideas and values. Nowadays the EU particularly needs this kind of positive examples that make our values more attractive for countries with similar history and geopolitics.

To provide practical examples of our Slovak contribution to these efforts, let me mention two practical projects that we launched for our Eastern partners last year:
-    In 2010 we launched National Conventions for European Integration in Moldova and Ukraine - projects similar to the one implemented in Slovakia during its EU accession process. The project is designed to develop the strategies and mechanisms of communication with civil society. Its goal is to better inform the population about the reforms promoted by the Government.  
-    Recently, the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs established the “Centre of Transfer of the Slovak Experiences from the Accession Process”. The role of the Centre is to provide timely and tailor-made response to the needs of our partners through consultations, expert assistance or internships.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We entered 2011 with a task to review the European Neighbourhood Policy and strengthen the Eastern Partnership. In April the European Commission will announce a communication on the review of the European Neighbourhood Policy. We expect it to confirm greater differentiation between the partners and the streamlining and unification of political and financial assistance instruments.

I am glad that, for a few days, Bratislava has been a “temporary capital” of the Eastern Partnership. Yesterday’s V4 ministerial meeting with all Eastern Partners, together with the German colleague Guido Westerwelle, as well as High Representative Catherine Ashton and the Commissioner for Enlargement Štefan Füle, underlined the importance of the Eastern Partnership in the European foreign policy.
As you know, a joint statement was adopted on the Eastern Partnership, which outlined our vision for the Eastern Partnership. I would like to emphasize several important elements out of it. Above all, we agreed on:
-    Keeping the Eastern Partnership high up the EU agenda and making it more dynamic, effective and visible.
-    Provide support for the most advanced partners implementing the EU acquis (to promote the “more for more” principle of differentiation).
-    Deepening of the EU political relations and political dialog with the Eastern partners.
-    Acknowledgment of the Partners aspirations towards European integration
-    Ensuring adequate financing of EU policy towards the Eastern partners in the next Financial Perspective.
-    Liberalisation and faciliatation of the EU visa policy for enhancing mobiliy and people-to-people contacts
-    Enhancement of the activity and visibility of the Visegrad Group within the Eastern Partnership, including by the International Visegrad Fund.

With our V4 partners, we expressed our intention to do their utmost in this regard during the “Visegrad Year” of 2011 when Hungary and Poland hold the EU presidency. There is a strong and unanimous interest in our countries in maintaining the current momentum to the benefit of our friends. We are convinced that the next Eastern Partnership summit during the Polish EU Presidency later this year will bring a new impetus and revive the East European vector of the European Neighbourhood Policy.
Ladies and gentlemen,

In conclusion, I would like to use the opportunity of having here 2 panellists, my colleagues and friends – the Foreign Ministers of Moldova and Georgia - to welcome the determination of their pro-European governments. Thanks to the gradual implementation of reforms, European norms and values, your countries will be able to modernise institutions, improve legal and economic environment, increase competitiveness, and attract investment – all of it for the benefit and prosperity of your people. You can turn your countries into very success stories and I hope that you will motivate other partners in intensifying their efforts within the Eastern partnership.

At the same time, I can’t stress enough the fact, that the only one who holds the key of your European perspective is you alone. No matter how difficult it may become, consider the transition process as an opportunity for the sake of your own country. The key to success is to understand, that the process is just as important as its final goal. Take as much as you can out of it. Keeping this in mind, soon you will find yourself “on track”, and you can become another “success story”. But until then, there is still a long way to walk. On this journey, you can count on our support.

Thank you for your attention