Recommendations of the International Conference «For Our Freedom and Yours: For Our Common Future!»
Final Document
International Conference
За нашу і вашу
свободу! За наше спільне майбутнє!
For Our Freedom and Yours! For Our Common Future!
Za Wolno?? Nasz? i Wasz?! Za Nasz? Wsp?ln? Przysz?o??!
October 25-27 2009, Lviv,
Ukraine
Contents
Introduction
Workgroup 1. Governance, rule of law, combating corruption
Workgroup 2. Mass media and communication
Workgroup 3. Culture and religion
Workgroup 4. Security challenges
Workgroup 5. Elections and election campaigns
Workgroup 6. Human rights
Workgroup 7. Think tanks and the transformation of society
Workgroup 8. Historical memory, civic consciousness, education and
identity
Introduction
The end of the Cold War was one of the most important events of the
epoch. Twenty years ago, people took fate into their own hands and
started to reshape their societies and the world. People striving
for freedom changed the world. Changes that were started in the
Gorbachev era and the Brandenburg speech of Ronald Reagan, were the
prologue to a series of events that led to the collapse of the
“iron curtain” and end of the cold war.
Solidarity came to power in Poland. The Velvet Revolution took
place in Czechoslovakia. The Berlin Wall came down. Countries of
the socialist bloc started to throw off the mantle of repressive
government and control of the Soviet Union. Great changes started
to occur characterized by unrest in big cities and the growth of
people’s democratic and national consciousness all over the region.
“Saudis”, People’s Fronts in the Baltic States, Narodnyi Rukh of
Ukraine were founded and they started their activities. The very
last gathering of the Supreme Soviet of People’s Deputies of the
USSR was also permeated with an atmosphere of openness and a
democratic spirit unknown before. And, finally, the collapse of the
Soviet Union led to founding of the new independent states. Along
with fifteen independent states that emerged, Ukrainians
established their statehood after many generations of being the
largest stateless nation in the world.
The international conference “ For Our Freedom and Yours! For Our
Common Future!” that took place on October 25 – 27, 2009 in Lviv,
Ukraine, was dedicated to the events that changed the face of
Europe 20 years ago. The slogan “For Your Freedom and Ours” was the
rallying cry for the changes in the region 20 years ago. Its
derivation can be found in the history of the Polish struggles for
freedom and independence in the past two centuries, but in modern
times it was used in 1968, by participants of the demonstration
that was held in Moscow in protest against the crushing of the
Prague Spring by Soviet tanks in Czechoslovakia. To this well known
dissident slogan we added the second part “For Our Common Future”
in order to stress the fact that cooperation between states and
nations will secure our common future, and the stability of our
part of the world.
Twenty years ago, in Wroclaw, a festival and conference of
independent culture was organized by Polish Czechoslovak
Solidarity—momentum and enthusiasm generated at this gathering was
later credited with being the spark that led to the Velvet
Revolution. The example and assistance of Polish reformers inspired
Czechs and Slovaks to initiate their own changes. Change also came
to Ukraine. It is symbolic and significant that this conference was
held in Lviv. Lviv was the leader of democratic changes in Ukraine
at the end of the 1980s. It has kept traditionally close relations
with the main democratic centers in the Central and East European
states and remains a good example for democratic forces of Eastern
Europe, Caucasus and the Central Asia.
The aim of the conference was to review the huge changes of previous years and to discuss proposals that will ensure a stable and predictable future. The transborder work that was started in Europe 25 years ago and was aimed at spreading democracy to the East is now targeted at the integration of new democratic states into Europe and into the transatlantic community. This concept was the objective of the conference. The conference participants developed recommendations on providing assistance to the six countries of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan).
More than 250 delegates took part in the conference—public figures, representatives of analytical centers, NGOs, MPs and government persons—with representatives from all six partnership countries as well as the new member states of the EU, Germany, United Kingdom and the USA.
During the plenary sessions and working groups, the conference participants discussed a number of problem areas and developed recommendations on how civil society can participate in the resolution of these problems and issues. Experts on security, legislation, election, economy, social development, mass media, communication, culture, history and religion exchanged their opinions on civil sector reforms in the context of regional changes. The conference participants developed recommendations to present to the Civil Society Forum in Brussels on November 16-17 2009 and to other interested parties.
Workgroup 1: Governance, Rule of Law, Combating Corruption
Moderator: Maryana Demkova, Centre for Political and Legal
Reforms, Ukraine
Participants came to the conclusion that in order to increase the
impact of reforms aimed at improving state governance in all
countries of the Eastern Partnership region it is necessary to
introduce and to enhance cooperation with the EU in the following
way:
1. To encourage the authorities in Eastern Partnership region
countries to introduce high standards of governance, supremacy of
law, democratic principles and mechanisms for combating
corruption.
2. To support civil society organizations that are effectively
working in the field of monitoring power structures and conducting
reforms (e.g. analytical centers, youth organizations, business
associations).
3. To improve the efficiency of expert support in the Eastern
Partnership region through authoritative and timely expertise
provided in political documents and legal projects.
4. To develop and introduce efficient mechanisms for reforming
education in the Eastern Partnership region (in particular, in the
field of law and public administration).
5. To lay out a course toward EU membership in official documents
for the members of the Eastern Partnership region countries,
clearly outlining the standards and conditions required for EU
membership.
6. To widen the use of “Twining” and TAEX mechanisms in Eastern
Partnership region countries.
7. To involve independent civic institutions in the implementation
of projects being realized in Eastern Partnership region countries
and supported by European Commission and the governments of EU
countries.
Workgroup 2. Media and communication
Moderator: Vahtang
Kipiani, Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Ukraine
1. There should be more active
exchange of experience between Central European and Eastern
Partnership countries. Representatives of EU countries should
provide journalists in the EP countries with information on solving
problems that they faced before gaining EU membership.
2. To use the experience of Western colleagues to educate young
journalists with the aim of demonstrating that journalists can
pursue a fulfilling and important career while maintaining high
standards.
3. To spread the use of new media (in particular, Internet) not
only for obtaining information but also as an effective
communication tool, as a platform for blogging, and for developing
common discussion space for people from different countries. In
particular, dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ukraine and
Russia, and Ukraine and Belarus would benefit from this kind of
exchange.
4. A program of small grants that operates quickly and in a
flexible fashion should be developed to assist representatives of
Eastern Partnership countries who often need small amounts of
financial support to travel to participate in conferences and
meetings, and to prepare materials and publications.
5. To support the development of civic journalism, in other words,
to support non-professional people who post information on the
Internet, who form discussion groups and spread democratic values
among people.
6. There is a proposal regarding the situation in Belarus. Some
circles in the West have declared that there is a process of
liberalization taking place in this “last dictatorship in Europe”.
But in reality, this process is formal and is being conducted as a
showcase for foreigner observers, since ordinary people in Belarus,
and especially journalists, do not feel any influence of such
liberalization. Journalists from the Eastern partnership countries
support their colleagues from Belarus in the opinion that such
liberalization is without substance.
Workgroup 3.
Culture and Religion
Moderator: Halyna
Usatenko , “EuropeХХІ” Foundation, Ukraine
The working group reached the
conclusion that the resolution of issues pertaining to culture and
religion in individual countries or in specific regions within
countries (Ukraine and its Crimea, Georgia) can help to prevent
conflicts. The idea that political culture and the culture of
democracy, based on values of tolerance, ecumenical culture,
cross-border and multicultural cooperation, is gaining acceptance.
Civil society organizations should play an important role in this
sphere.
The group proposed the following recommendations:
1. To pay attention to and to popularize the issue of religion,
religious and cultural life of the countries of Central and Eastern
Europe.
2. To adopt laws which could prevent the practice of intolerant
speech and attitudes in the mass media on the issues religion and
national minorities.
3. To develop common projects between the member countries of EU
and their neighbors that involve working together, not through a
one-way system of instruction.
4. To promote openness of the borders and the free flow of ideas
and people (especially scientific works and educational
programs).
5. To actively implement projects for journalists on specific
issues in the history of national cultures and religious
confessional realities.
Workgroup 4.
Security Challenges
Moderator: Inna
Pidluska, “Europe ХХІ” Foundation, Ukraine
1. To further discuss and include a
security component into the work of the Civil Society Forum within
the framework of the Eastern Partnership. Civil society can go
further and take on programs and activities that are bolder and
more creative than formal and official institutions. That is why it
is important to include a security component in the Forum.
Otherwise, regardless of how efficiently civil society works on
ensuring civil rights and freedoms, development of economic welfare
and tolerance, all that may be destroyed because of fuel and energy
crises, conflicts and real dangers that can appear in this
region.
2. Relations in the region, relations between EU and Eastern
Partnership countries and relations between countries that are not
members of Eastern Partnership and relations with Russia should be
pragmatic. But there should be limits to pragmatism. Pragmatism
should be limited by values. We should not neglect values in favor
of pragmatic arguments. Democratic values should be our priority,
and then comes pragmatic thinking.
3. Developing strategies for civil society for the whole region.
Such strategy should be based not on national interests of each
state belonging to the region but on mutual goals and mutual
interests that are developing democracy, establishing supremacy of
law and promoting freedom and prosperity.
4. Building strategic partnerships between civil societies in the
region. Not only Eastern Partnership countries and not only EU
members should be involved in such initiatives but also the USA and
Turkey.
5. We should also found a consortium of organizations working on
ensuring security in the region that will guarantee permanent
analytical support to research processes that take place in the
region. It is important for the power structures and institutions
of officialdom and government to know that they are being watched
and their actions are being evaluated. It is also important to be
able to provide independent information to people of these
countries so that they can better understand the necessity of
preventing conflicts, the value of peace, democracy and human
rights.
6. We should cooperate with the aim to develop space for dialogue
and discussion not only between civil society organizations,
analytical centers but also between certain non-political, social
and communication platforms that will enable people from different
countries to openly discuss problems. It will not always be a
peaceful and pleasant discussion but such discussions are necessary
for better understanding each other, for our better understanding
of security, and the value of democratic principles and norms in
the region.
7. The working group would like to propose a final and extremely
important recommendation in this phrase “Democracy is the best
policy for security”.
Workshop 5. Elections and
election campaigns
Moderator:
Iryna Bekeshkina, Democratic Initiatives Foundation,
Ukraine
1. Participants agreed that
democratic countries of the West have provided important and
effective assistance to the post-socialistic and post-Soviet
countries in their struggle for free, fair and transparent
elections. Financing for monitoring and educational programs as
well as financing for independent surveys has made it possible to
make elections fair. Such programs and financial support should be
continued. The participants mentioned that conducting independent
exit polls play an important role in countries where there is the
danger of election falsifications. Exit polls provide citizens with
a way to monitor the vote count; exit polls also play an important
role in identifying and thus preventing falsification.
2. In countries where competitive elections are a relatively new
phenomenon, the electorate has not yet acquired experience in
making rational and conscious choices. This becomes significant
when elections take on a manipulative character by becoming
competitions between politicians’ images and populist slogans. NGOs
and think tanks should help voters to make a conscious choice by
analyzing programs and proposals of politicians and conducting
independent journalistic investigations. This is where help is
needed from experts from democratic countries.
3. Communication between civic organizations from different
countries and exchange of experience exchange are very important.
Internet communication should be developed with the aim of ensuring
better communication between interested parties. Programs should
also be developed to increase access to the Internet in countries
with low penetration of Internet. In particular, such programs
should be targeted at rural youth and pensioners.
4. Supporting research programs that provide comparative data from
countries were democratic development is at different stages is an
important way to identify problem areas. By developing common
indexes on the level of democratic development, discussions of
common problems can be more productive.
5. The recommendations and expert analysis of international
institutions that focus on post-Soviet states is very valuable and
highly appreciated. Such analysis would be more effective, however,
if it could include the input of both western and eastern experts
in close cooperation. (For example, the recommendation of the
Venice Commission to eliminate the possibility for Ukrainian voters
to vote “against all” on the Ukrainian ballot paper, will deprive
many Ukrainian voters of the possibility to express the strongly
held attitude that no candidate represents their interests. In a
country where democracy has not yet reached maturity, preserving
this option is considered an important way for voters to express
their democratic choice).
6. The views and position of the European community are very
important for countries where NGOs’ harassed and civic activists’
activities are repressed. The conference participants stressed that
this makes it even more important for the democratic countries of
Europe to conduct policy that is guided by democratic values and
principles rather than by accommodation to short term political
interests.
Workgroup 6. Human Rights
Moderator:
Svitlana Franchuk, Freedom House, Ukraine
1. To develop an informal platform
for human rights organizations of the six countries of the Eastern
Partnership with the aim of introducing and implementing effective
models and innovative methods for permanent monitoring of the
process of adherence human rights of different types.
2. To develop efficient communication channels for informing
European interstate bodies and corresponding structures on the
monitoring results.
3. In the post-Soviet states, human rights organizations should
more actively cooperate with embassies of EU member countries for
informing EU on research results and on their needs to be supported
by EU.
4. It is necessary to develop and
provide the EU with recommendations on structuring and
strengthening the transparency of resource distribution for
supporting human rights activities in EU and post-Soviet
states.
5. Standards and requirements on ensuring human rights should be
integral parts of European development strategy.
6. Concerning Russia and Belarus: the EU and USA should not avoid
pressuring governments of these countries regarding adherence to
human rights in exchange for energy security. Our Russian colleague
said, “Do not bargain with our rights in exchange for your
interests”.
Work group 7. Think tanks and the transformation of the
society
Speakers: Jeff Lovitt, Czech Republic; Grigorij
Meseznikov, Slovakia; Jacek Kucharczyk, Poland;
Moderator: Ilko
Kucheriv, Ukraine
1. To create advantageous
conditions for the work of think tanks in the Eastern partnership
countries. The special task of think tanks will be to fill the
Eastern Partnership framework with real content and to spread
support for these ideas among stakeholders – in the countries of
the Eastern partnership and on an international level.
2. To explain the importance of support for think tanks in the
countries of the Eastern Partnership by the EU as an important part
of the transition process. Think tanks can play a crucial role in
accomplishing targeted reforms.
3. To establish a direct funding source for think tanks from the EU
budget – to have a fund dedicated to this purpose.
4. To study the current condition and functioning of analytical
centers in the region of the Eastern Partnership countries and
Ukraine in particular, to develop programs for improvement of their
quality.
5. To encourage the development of analytical centers in the
countries of the Eastern Partnership by means of creating a united
platform for cooperation and common working groups made up of
representatives of EU-member countries and Eastern Partnership
countries. To promote think-tank thinking and the best practices
widely used in developed European countries.
6. To create a resource center that will conduct educational
trainings, consultations and will coordinate common activities of
EU-member countries and countries of the Eastern Partnership in
this sphere. To use common approaches and professional and ethical
standards.
7. To develop a communication strategy using Internet and new media
for further exchange of ideas. To create a common platform for
communication between analytical centers experts, journalists of
the Eastern Partnership countries, EU and Russia. It is recommended
to use Russian language as one of the communication languages to
involve Russian-speaking people.
8. To organize cooperation between think tanks from six countries
of the Eastern Partnership on specific issue platforms. To fill
these platforms with local content, to gather experts for each of
the platforms and to establish inter-country consultations
regarding these platforms. To involve European think tanks into
this cooperation. To use existing networks of cooperation between
think tanks, primarily NDRI and PASOS, for this work.
9. To make think tanks more visible on the national level, to
illuminate their role as a “bridge” between intellectuals and
politics. Think tanks should be facilitators of cooperation between
academic and political circles.
10. To develop a project on preparation and constant involvement of
youth into think tank activities and the processes of developing
recommendations.
11. Think tanks should be involved into the formation of a
discussion agenda and to highlight important, sometimes not very
popular issues (for example, visa problems and illegal migration,
or power supply and change of climate).
12. To organize constant cooperation between representatives of
analytical centers to fill the Eastern Partnership framework with
real content and for the preparation of the next Forum. The first
step in this work could be a meeting of Eastern partnership
countries and EU-member countries think tanks to develop a mutual
platform and planning of the further work. PASOS and NDRI will
become base structures for such a meeting and Ukraine can become
the venue.
Workgroup 8. Historical Memory, Civic Consciousness, Education,
and Identity
Moderator: Oles
Pohranychnyi, Lithuanian Consulate, Ukraine
1. To develop efficient mechanisms
and integration processes of “historic memory” of the Eastern
Partnership region states into European discourse. A way should be
found to integrate experts and professional for Eastern Partnership
countries into the German-Polish project on rewriting history
books.
2. To provide methodological assistance on solving long standing
conflicts between neighboring countries (e.g. Ukrainian and Polish
conflicts in the first half of the 20th century) with the aim of
developing a methodological approach, stylistics and a professional
capacity which may be applied to solving more complicated conflicts
such as Ukrainian-Russian, Belarus -Russian or Georgian-Russian
conflicts.
3. To establish research centers in Ukraine and Belarus for
systematic and deep research into acute problems that are still
sources of conflict in our part of the European continent. Such
research centers should develop recommendations for solving such
conflicts. Professionals from EU countries as well as professionals
from countries that are involved in these conflicts and
professionals from the Russian Federation should work in such
centers.
Workgroup 9: Economy, Social Development and Welfare
Moderator: Marc
Schleifer, Center for Independent Private Enterprise, USA
1. It is important to keep in mind that business associations are an integral part of civil society, they work in the same way and conduct similar activities as other parts of the NGO sector, especially the human rights wing.
2. A better dialog is needed between business associations and other NGOs and between business associations and business communities. Business associations are advocates of the economic policy reform through the democratic policy process – this puts them in the forefront of the overall reform process in the region.
3. There should be a close and productive dialogue between business associations and other parts of civil society.
4. After the political decisions on reforms have been made, civil society organizations should become leaders in monitoring the actual reform implementation process, through independent channels into governance and policymaking processes.
5. There should be a guarantee that NGO recommendations are not ignored in the end when respective laws are adapted.
6. In terms of problems for the future, EU membership is not the only possible solution to the development of economic reform process. There still remains much work to be done after a country has entered the EU. This specifically refers to the issue of decreasing dynamics of the reform processes in some new member states.
7. With regard to cooperation of NGOs, we should support better exchange of information among NGOs engaged with local communities and business. The important questions are: what instruments are most effective for such NGO engagement? How can NGOs build trust and identify common interests, especially with the business community? Also important are programs that form better watchdog skills in NGOs.
8. For the Eastern Partnership countries, it is important for NGOs to understand that business associations are an integral part of civil society, to support dialog in the society and search for common interests; and move towards local sources of funding – through engaging with local businesses and communities more professionally.
9. NGOs in the region should be included in the policymaking process.
Workgroup 10:
Russia and Central and Eastern Europe—Searching for Common
Euro-Atlantic Vision
Moderator: Andrew
Nagorski, EastWest Institute, USA
1. The major concerns for Ukrainians are connected with security and the frustration with EU and US policy.
2. For non-Ukrainians, the major concerns are the internal situation in Ukraine, how the country will develop in the future as well as the Ukrainian political class, relations within this class, and the wishes of civil society.
3. In terms of relations between the countries in the region, it is very important to increase civil society contact network, facilitate visa issues, support student exchanges and other types of mutual activities.
4. When East-West relations are difficult, an important area to focus upon is energy security- the area where everyone is a stakeholder and where progress can be made in spite of difficulties in other areas.
5. Regarding possible changes of Euroatlantic security system (proposals brought in by Russia and other players) and the questions of how the Central European states should react, the recommendation is to get Russia engaged, not ignored, so Russia need to be a close part of the discussion.
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