EaP CSF member and Azerbaijani human rights defender, Anar Mammadli, has been awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2014  for his outstanding civil society action following our submission for his nomination to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The Forum sends its best wishes to Anar, who has been assigned the status of prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and is still facing a sentence of 5 and a half years in prison. Read more

EaP CSF Newsletter September

30 September 2014

For the newsletter in Russian, please click here. 

This year the General Assembly of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum will be taking place in Batumi, Georgia on the 20-21 November 2014 under the title: ‘EU Integration & common security: making it happen'.

Registration for selected participants is now open and runs until 22 October. The agenda for the meeting will be elaborated at the upcoming steering committee meeting in Warsaw on 2-3 October and we look forward to its release thereafter along with more information about the side-events. In the meantime, details on the assembly and speakers are available on the newly launched assembly website: http://eapcsf-assembly.org/ 

​Hearing of Commissioner-Designates ​

EaP CSF members are requesting MEPs to raise questions at the hearing of Juncker's commissioner-designates at the European Parliament starting Monday 29 September, including on the future of the Eastern Partnership and civil society. 

Chair of EaP CSF Steering Committee Delivers Speech at EaP Ministerial in Baku

Co-chair of the Steering Committee, Vugar Bayramov, delivered a speech at an informal ministerial meeting of EU and partner countries in Baku on 9 September in which he addressed the importance of the EU’s engagement in security, human rights and energy security in the region. Read more

​EU Parliament Condemns the Persecution of Human Rights Defenders in Azerbaijan

A resolution of the European Parliament on the persecution of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan was adopted by the plenary sitting in Strasbourg last week. In line with EaP CSF Steering Committee statements, the resolution condemns the recent crackdown on civil society by the Azerbaijani government, calls for the immediate release of human rights defenders and urges respect for democratic principles enshrined in the EU’s cooperation with the country. Read more

EaP CSF Launches Poster Campaign on Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan

In light of the recent government crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan, the EaP CSF has launched a poster campaign to raise awareness of important political figures currently facing imprisonment in the country. The first poster campaign focuses on detained civil society activist Rasul Jafarov. Mr. Jafarov was an active member of Working Group 1 of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and the founder of an unregistered NGO in Azerbaijan called Human Rights Club. Read more

Opportunities and Other News

Call for Applications: Eastern Partnership Young Leaders Forum in Brussels

The European Parliament has launched the “Young Leaders Forum: Eastern Partnership-EU”, a new initiative which will take place in Brussels on 8-11 December 2014. Read more

Commission Sets New Cooperation Priorities for Eastern Neighbourhood

The European Commission has released its cooperation priorities, including decisions about funding, for the Eastern Neighbourhood on Monday, 8 September following consultations with partner countries, EU member states and the European Parliament. Read more

Civil Society Invited to Contribute to ENP Progress Reports

The EEAS and the Commission are inviting civil society organisations in Eastern Partnership countries to contribute to reports assessing the progress achieved in 2014 by their respective governments in the implementation of reform commitments within the framework of European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Read more