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 draws on the research undertaken for the PASOS project, Evaluation of the Democracy Assistance Policies and Priorities of the Visegrad Countries, a project involving PASOS members:

• EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic
• Center for Policy Studies at the Central European University, Hungary
• Institute of Public Affairs, Poland
• Institute for Public Affairs, Slovakia.

The research included an assessment of Visegrad Four countries’ democracy assistance practices in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cuba, and Ukraine.

This project is supported by the International Visegrad Fund, and the Open Society Institute Think-Tank Fund.