'Succes Oostelijk Partnerschap niet afhankelijk van beslissingen top in Vilnius' (en)

An unexpected change in Ukraine’s position just before the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius has moved this issue to the top of the political agenda. Politicians, diplomats, and the global media had been focused on whether or not Ukraine would sign an association agreement and a free trade agreement in Vilnius.

However, despite Ukraine's decision, the future of the Eastern Partnership programme cannot and should not fall prey to it. Experts of the EU and Eastern Partnership countries and representatives of civil society began considering and creating scenarios of the Eastern Partnership’s future after the Summit in Vilnius well before it had taken place.

While the leaders of the EU and Eastern Partnership countries will be looking for political solutions in Vilnius, the ideas and visions of the aforementioned experts as well as many intriguing discussions will be available at the Eastern Europe Studies Centre and the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum's conference, Eastern Partnership Reality Check: Political Challenges and Future Agenda for Civil Society.

300 participants are expected, among them the most famous civil society leaders of the Eastern Partnership countries and EU Member States, leading experts of regional and transatlantic NGOs, science centres, international aid organizations, and political funds, together with well-known politicians and public figures. The event has received huge interest from the media as well - with 100 journalists from major Eastern Partnership countries and EU Member States’ media agencies registering beforehand.

This Conference is a continuation of the annual Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (this year it took place in Kishinev, Moldova, on 3-6 October).

The event is being supported by the European Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius.

More information about the event is available here.

The Eastern Europe Studies Centre's insights on the Eastern Partnership's future after the Summit in Vilnius are available here.