Is the EU ready to put democracy assistance at the heart of European foreign policy?
The EU can take credit for preparing central European countries for integration, but it continues to be hesitant to invest in democracy and human rights under authoritarian rule and at critical stages of transition. A values-based approach to human rights must be combined with flexibility and strong support to civil society at all stages of the democratisation process.
This Policy Brief, by Jeff Lovitt, Executive Director of PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society) and Vera Rihackova, Research Fellow, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Prague, draws on the research undertaken for the PASOS project, Evaluation of the Democracy Assistance Policies and Priorities of the Visegrad Countries. Download the publication from the PASOS website).