Civil society representatives attending the conference demonstrated great interest to the Eastern Partnership initiative and Belarus’ participation in this programme as a full member. But, at the same time, they expressed concerns over the fact that the civil society is still excluded from the evaluation and decision-making processes regarding the new initiative at the national level. It was therefore stressed that Belarusian NGOs have been the country’s most consistent and ardent advocates of European integration.

Approximately 130 leading activists and experts from more than 80 organisations participated in the conference. Among them were representatives of public associations, political parties, religious groups, labour unions and other non-profit organisations. Representatives of the European Commission Delegation in Belarus, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Belarus, the Public Advisory Committee of the Presidential Administration of Belarus, National Coordination Unit of TACIS program in Belarus and embassies of EU member states in Belarus were also among the invitees. Thirty one journalists covered the proceeding of the conference, which included the plenary session, two panel discussions, the final debate and the adoption of the resolution. 

In the plenary session, Mr. Jean-Eric Holzapfel, Charge d'affaires of the European Commission in Belarus, made a presentation about the initiative of Eastern Partnership and the Civil Society Forum. Member of the conference’s organisational committee, Uladzislau Vialichka, talked about participation and role of civil society in the debates on the initiative. The organisers also expected to hear a view of the Belarusian authorities on the EU initiative. However, no representatives of state institutions were able to attend the meeting.

Participants of the conference agreed it was important to engage more parties in the realisation of EaP programmes and to develop intra-Belarusian dialogue between the authorities and the civil society that would serve the country’s national interests. They also proposed the establishment of a mechanism for consultations and discussions on the active and equal participation of civil society in the discussion of the EaP. The results of the conference will be presented to the European Commission, the relevant bodies of the Belarusian authorities, wide circle of NGOs and the media. The finding will also be presented at an NGO Forum in Prague on 5-6 May 2009.

Conference Program
Final Communique
Resolution of the Conference
Theses of speakers (in Russian-Belarusian)