Beyond the EU Thinking Europe Outside the Union

The seventh President of the US Andrew Jackson once said that all the rights secured to the citizens under the Constitution are worth nothing, a mere bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent and virtuous Judiciary.

In February, a wave of grassroots protests rocked Belarus prompted by the introduction of a “social parasite” tax by the Belarusian government. The government argued that, since most social services are free in Belarus, everyone must contribute to financing them, including the unemployed and those, who do not look for a job and live off their own or their family’s savings, such as housewives or people recovering from surgery. People took to the streets all across Belarus, a country famous (or notorious, depending on who you ask) for the tranquillity of its social and political life. This makes the current wave of protests ever more significant. Beyond the EU (BtEU) sat down with Michael Strelchyk (MS), social activist and outspoken critic of the tax, to discuss recent developments.

Sustainable Development Goals represent the United Nations’ post-2015 response to the new, as well as the old but persisting social, economic and environmental challenges the world faces today.

On the 28th of April 2014, Moldova became the first Eastern Partnership (EaP) country granted with a visa free regime to Schengen area. This allows Moldovan citizens holding a biometric passport to travel to Schengen countries up to 90 days within any 180-day period without a visa. I propose here to analyse the details of this achievement.

The wide-ranging experience of the “Big-Bang” enlargement provided initial impetus for extended cooperation with EU’s neighbouring countries and has progressively transformed in “European Neighbourhood Policy” (ENP). After launching an intensive and increasingly integrating program, aiming to avoid new divisions in Europe and boost tremendously compound transformation process in the EU’s Southern and Eastern neighbours, harsh discussions are open which tend to bemoan that the scope of existing ENP is not able to assign instrumental leverages for significant developments in partner countries.

There is no negative intrinsic value to ethnical diversity that would make it a cause of conflict. Otherwise, every ethnically diverse society would be expected to be in conflict, while the reality suggests that for each case of ethnic rivarly, there are many other cases of different ethnic groups coexisting peacefully.