Considering the extent of the pandemic hitting the majority of the EU’s Eastern neighbours and exacerbating existing socio-economic problems and political grievances, the EaP leaderships find themselves under extreme pressure. The effectiveness of governments in combating the pandemic and its economic consequences may shape trajectories of the political regimes in the region in the near future, and not necessarily in a democratic direction.

On July 1, the “3 DCFTAs” Project, in cooperation with the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and the Ukrainian Think Tanks Liaison Office in Brussels (UTTLOB) with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation is organising an online-webinar “Political Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for the Eastern Partnership Countries”.

Experts from six EU’s Eastern partners will evaluate the latest developments with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic in the region, and the impact it is having on the overall political environment within each country, some of whom are facing elections.

In particular, the following issues will be touched upon:

• State of emergency & concerns for civil liberties
• Governments’ handling the pandemic
• Impact on political parties, civil society and media
• Foreign policy orientations of leadership and populations

Agenda

Moderators:

Michael Emerson,CEPS, Belgium
Olena Carbou, Ukrainian Think Tanks Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium

Speakers & Panelists:

Tamara Kovziridze, Reformatics, Georgia
Benyamin Poghosyan, Political Science Association of Armenia, Armenia
Shahla Ismayil, Women Association for Rational Development, Azerbaijan, Steering Committee EaP CSF
Denis Cenusa, Expert-Grup, Moldova
Veronika Movchan, Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, Ukraine
Andrei Yahorau, Centre for European Transformation, Belarus, EaP CSF
Natalia Yerashevich, Director of the Secretariat of the EaP CSF, Belgium

For registration, please fill in the form in the link below: https://bit.ly/3dzHVTo, no later than June 30, 2020. The event will be held in English.

Webinar Instructions:

Please connect to the event 5 minutes prior (13:55) to allow time for technical assistance and troubleshooting. Video will be taken during the event. It may be processed and used by the organisers. By registering to this event, you are granting us the rights to do so. The live stream of the event will be also available on the Facebook pages of “3 DCFTAs” Project and UTTLOB. By registering to this event, you agree with the Terms & Conditions of CEPS Data Privacy Policy.

     3DCFTAs Project is funded by Sweden.