Suchergebnisse

In 2012 and 2013 the European Court of Human Rights announced two verdicts, dealing with important cases in Ukraine. They both concerned the leading Ukrainian politicians, that is Yuliya Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko. Y. Tymoshenko is the leader of the Batkivshchyna political party and of Yulia Tymoshenko's Bloc. From 18 December 2007 to 3 March 2010, she held the position of Prime Minister of Ukraine. Y. Lutsenko, during the period from 18 December 2007 to 29 January 2010 was Minister of the Interior and the leader of the opposition party Narodna Samooborona. They were accused of abuse of power during their terms in office. The circumstances of the two cases are similar. Both applicants argued that their arrest and detention had been politically motivated and unlawful. In light of the cooperation between Ukraine and the EU, as well as the advancement as a democratic state, these judgements are very important. Significantly, the local and international observers concluded that their conviction was an element of political play. The Court ruled that the Ukrainian authorities violated the article 5 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

The idea of involvement of the European Union in cooperation between the EU and its Eastern neighbours has been promoted by Poland since 1998. The strongest manifestation of this effort was the Polish-Swedish initiative under the name of "The Eastern Partnership". In 2008 the European Council confirmed this project and thus it became the eastern dimension of European Neighbourhood Policy. Obtaining the EU acceptance for the Eastern Partnership was to an important extent a success of the Polish diplomacy. It proved that Poland was a strong partner in the EU, whose initiative and determination led to constructive action. A review and assessment of the activities and development of the Eastern Partnership was one of three priorities of the Polish UE presidency. The most important event during the Polish presidency was the summit meeting of the Eastern Partnership, that took place on 29 and 30 October 2011 in Warsaw. Despite the fact that it was not a full success, some important decisions for development of the Eastern Partnership were taken. For an assessment of the Polish presidency, a few factors should be taken into consideration. First of these is the role of the Council Presidency in the EU institutional and decisional system. Second is appraisal of political situation both in the EU Member States and the partner states. The authentic will of all parties to take constructive action is a condition sine quo non for the success of the Eastern Partnership. One of the important rule is more for more. It is means that the EU applies a set of conditionalities to the Eastern Partnership Member States, requiring the continuation of democratic reforms. The main objective of this article is to demonstrate the essence of the Eastern Partnership and to formulate an opinion, based upon the analysis of the activities and results of the programme. The article is divided in three parts: I. The essence of the Eastern Partnership; II. The Eastern Partnership as a Polish priority of the Polish presidency; III. The assessment of the Polish presidency.