Eastern Partnership Index 2025: Performance, Progress and Pushback on the Road to the EU

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Discussion

This event is now closed. You can read the EaP Index on this page.

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) Index is the civil society-led monitoring tool, developed by the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and grounded in input from experts in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. It offers a unique, data-driven perspective on the progress and challenges facing these six countries on their path toward sustainable democratic development and the EU.

The EaP Index uses a comprehensive methodology covering 14 policy areas, tracks progress on Sustainable Development Goals and includes an analysis of gender-related issues in the region.

The 2025 edition of the Index offers a detailed picture of the Eastern Partnership countries’ diverse trajectories. While Moldova, Ukraine, and Armenia have advanced EU integration despite domestic instability and external pressures, particularly from Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan continue to demonstrate entrenched authoritarianism and civil society repression. Georgia’s democratic backsliding, especially after the 2024 elections, raises serious concerns about its European trajectory, even as public support for the EU remains strong.

Programme

This event will take place on Thursday, 26 June 2025, 10:00 – 12:30 CEST at the European Parliament, ASP 5E1, Rue Wiertz 60 – Brussels. Registration is compulsory through the form below.

This event is organised by the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum with the support of the European Union.

10:00 – 10:50	Introductory remarks MEP Sergey Lagodinsky – Member of the European Parliament, Co-President of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Mr Martin Vane – Interim Director, Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Mr Michael Siebert, Managing Director for Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia, regional cooperation and OSCE, European External Action Service Ms Adrienn Kiraly – Director, Neighbourhood East & Türkiye, Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood, European Commission Ms Kerry Longhurst – EaP Index Executive Editor, Collegium Civitas
10:50 – 12:10	Exchange with EaP Index Experts Speakers Ms Hasmik Harutyunian – Legal Expert, Protection of Rights without Borders, Armenia Ms Enira Bronitskaya – Human Rights Expert and Co-founder, Human Constanta, Belarus Ms Ekaterine Tsimakuridze – Chairperson, Democracy Index, Georgia Mr Iulian Groza – Executive Director, Institute for European Policies and Reforms, Republic of Moldova Mr Viktor Zagreba – Founder and Chairperson, NGO Vision Zero, Ukraine Mr Vahid Aliyev – Co-founder, Minority Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Moderator: Ms Yana Brovdiy, Advocacy & EaP Index Manager, EaP CSF
12:10 – 12:30	Q&A Session
12:30 – 13:30	Networking lunch

This event will explore the key findings of the 2025 EaP Index and be guided by three questions:

What does the EaP Index 2025 reveal about Georgia’s, Moldova’s, and Ukraine’s capacity to meet EU enlargement requirements amid ongoing political, security, and institutional challenges?
In the face of rising authoritarianism, shrinking civic space, and external funding constraints, how can the EU more effectively support independent civil society and media, especially in Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Georgia?
How can civil society’s evidence-based analysis, as captured in the EaP Index, be better integrated into EU policymaking, including the Eastern Partnership initiative, and enlargement, to ensure long-term democratic resilience in the region?

Contact

For more information about the EaP Index, please contact the Secretariat of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum: advocacy@eap-csf.eu.

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