WHERE:

Committee Room 16, House of Commons, Westminster

Speakers:

• Mike Gapes MP, Member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee (Labour)
• Laura Sandys MP (Conservative)
• Baroness Falkner, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
• Dr Andrew Wilson, Reader in Ukrainian Studies, UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies and Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR
• Dr Kevork Oskanian, Research Fellow, University of Birmingham and FPC Research Associate

Chair:

Mary Dejevsky, Chief Editorial Writer and Columnist, The Independent

This second London seminar as part of the Trouble in the Neighbourhood? The future of the EU’s Eastern Partnership project, in partnership with the European Commission Representation in the UK, will take stock of recent developments in the EU’s relationship with the countries in its eastern neighbourhood: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. The issue of the EU’s role in the region and the influence of the Russian-led alternative the Eurasian Economic Union have been at the heart of a major geo-political upheaval. The decision by Ukraine’s then President Yanukovych to reject Eastern Partnership under pressure from Russia in the summer of 2013 lit the spark for the dramatic subsequent events in that country, while Armenia made a similar switch under Russian pressure ahead of the key November 2013 Vilnius summit. This seminar will look at the key planks of the EU’s approach to the region including the offers of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements, visa reform, funding for reform projects and political engagement.

This is the second of the two London events and it will focus on how Eastern Partnership is viewed by the six participating member countries.

Free copies of the Trouble in the Neighbourhood? The future of the EU’s Eastern Partnership publication will be available.

The event is free and open to all. Please RSVP to [email protected]

Information was taken from this website.