20 years of democratic renewal in Eastern Europe
A gathering of
young civic leaders from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the Slovak
Republic, and democracy and human rights campaigners from EU Eastern
Partnership countries, with representatives of the European Commission,
European Council, European Parliament, and EU member governments on the
occasion of International Human Rights Day to mark 20 years since the end of
the cold war and the end of communist rule in Central Europe.
The conference is
part of Return to Europe -
Reflections After 20 Years of Democratic Renewal, a PASOS project including
studies and opinion polls into attitudes, especially among the younger
generation, towards democracy in the Visegrad Four countries after two decades
of democracy, and a survey of the public's attitudes to their own governments'
support for democratisation in third countries.
Additional studies
from the project, to be presented at the Prague conference and subsequently,
include: Prospects for, and potential impact of, a new EU policy framework for
democracy building in EU external relations and a policy brief on the
Implications of the Ratification of the Lisbon Treaty for European Democracy
Support (focusing in particular on the development of the EU diplomatic service,
or External Action Service.
The conference,
which will include a preview/pre-screening of one of the top documentary films
about democracy and human rights to be shown in the One World Film Festival
2010, is held in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech
Republic, and with PASOS members: Center for Policy Studies at the Central
European University, Hungary, Institute of Public Affairs (ISP), Poland, and
the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), Slovak Republic.
The EPD's Kristina Prunerova will be one of the speakers at the event, the itinerary of which can be found here.