International Cooperation Program

Common Europe

In cooperation with the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs we organised an international conference in Warsaw on February 20-21, 2003. The participants of the conference included outstanding experts, present and former politicians and high officials from the EU member states, candidate countries and future eastern neighbours of the European Union. The conference was opened by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, and the stance of the Polish Government on the future policy of the enlarged European Union towards its new neighbours was presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

During the Conference sessions discussions were held on the proposals of the European Union towards its new eastern neighbours. The following questions were discussed: what shall be the influence of the new member states on the eastern policy of the European Union? What conclusions can we draw from the current policy of the European Union towards its neighbours? How can we use of the TACIS assistance program for the countries of former Soviet Union in the EU policy towards its new neighbours?

The participants of the conference included, among others Dumitru Braghis (former Prime Minister of Moldavia), Paval Daneyka (President of the Institute of Privatisation and Management, Minsk), Marek Dąbrowski (Chairman of CASE Foundation Council, Warsaw), Alistair MacDonald (Head of Unit for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asian Republics in the European Commission), Bronisław Geremek (former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland), Jurij Jekhanurov (Chairman of the Commission for Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of the Ukraine Supreme Council), Christoph Jessen (Commi-ssioner for EU Enlargement in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany), Bronisław Komorowski (former Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Poland), Krzysztof Lis (President of the Institute for Business Development, Warsaw), Tadeusz Mazowiecki (former Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland), Victor Martins (former Secretary of State for Euro-pean Affairs in Portugal), Antonio Missiroli (Analyst of the Institute for EU Security Studies, Paris), Dominique Moďsi (Director of the French Institute of Inter- national Affairs, Paris), Fernando Moran Lopez (former Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs), Józef Oleksy (Chairman of the Parliamentary European Committee, Warsaw), Sergiej Rogov (Director of the Institute for American and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow), Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (former Secretary of the Committee for European Integration, Warsaw), Antti Satuli (Finnish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs), Heather Grabbe (Research Director of the Centre for European Reforms, London), Boris Tarasyuk (Chairman of the Committee for European Integration of the Ukraine Supreme Council), Vincuk Viacorka, (Chairman of the Belarusian National Front – BNF), Andriej Zagorski (Director of the Institute for Applied International Studies, Moscow).

In connection with the conference we prepared two publications. The first one: The EU Neighbourhood Policy. History Lessons (by Klaus Bachmann, Paweł J. Borkowski, Dorota Heidrich and Agnieszka Mazur-Barańska) discussed the influence of some member states on the EU policy towards its close and more distant neighbours. It also includes a bibliography of Polish literature on eastern policy of the EU. The other one is a conference report entitled The EU Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy (elaborated by Agnieszka Mazur- Barańska and Wojciech Stanisławski) published in Polish and English.

On March 21-22, 2003 we organised an international conference Forum on European Citizenship in cooperation with Charities Aid Foundation from Great Britain, Euro Citizen Action Service and the Polish NGO Office in Brussels. The conference was co-financed by the EC Directorate General for Education and Culture. The participants of the conference were representatives of academic circles, activists of non-governmental organisations for civic counselling and European information, representatives of domestic and foreign governments and local government institutions, representatives of the European Commission and Parliament as well as representatives of Greece (presiding over the European Union in the first half of 2003).

The participants of discussion included: Stanisław Biernat (Head of the European Law Department at Jagiellonian University), Enrico Boaretto (Head of the Secretariat of the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament), Jakub Boratyński (Director of the International Programs, Stefan Batory Foundation), Annette Bosscher (former official of the European Commission, Chairperson of Euro Citizen Action Service Council, Brussels), Filip Cornelis (European Commission DG Enlargement), Sławomir Cybulski (Helsinki Human Rights Foundation), Siobhan Duffy (lawyer, Citizens Signpost Service, Dublin), Maciej Dusz-czyk (Office of the Committee for European Integration), Marisol Garcia (University of Barcelona), Hanna Górska (President of the Association of Citizen Advice Bureaux), Soren Haar (Citizen Advice Bureau and Euro Citizen Action Service in Brussels), Simon Hebditch (Director of Charities Aid Foundation, London), Gabor Halmai, (Director of Human Rights Information and Documentation Centre, Budapest), Artur Janas (Deputy Director of the District Employment Office in Toruń), Stanisław Konopacki (Department of International and Political Studies at the Łódź University), Julian Korman (President of the Polish Service Companies Association in the Federal Republic of Germany, Cologne), Irena Lipowicz (Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Austria), Ewa Majdowska (Deputy Director of the Bureau for Tertiary Education Recognition and International Exchange, Warsaw), Witold Orłowski (Economic Advisor at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland), Babis Papaioannou (Representative of the Greek EU Presidency), David Petrie (Chairman of the Association of Foreign Lecturers in Italy – ALLSI), Andrzej Rudka (Polish Confederation of Private Employers, Warsaw), Salla Saastamoinen (Directorate General Justice and Internal Affairs, European Commission), Nicola Simpson (Director of the National Association of Citizen Advice Bureaux in Great Britain), Katarzyna Soboń (European Integration Committee, NSZZ Solidarność, Gdańsk), Jerzy Świątkiewicz (Deputy Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection), Paweł Świeboda (Director of the Department of the European Union and Accession Negotiations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Krystyna Tokarska-Biernacik (Under-Secretary of State Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs), Richard Upson (Advisor, Euro Citizen Action Service, London), Tony Venables (Director, Euro Citizen Action Service, London), Roman Wieruszewski (Director of the Poznan Human Rights Centre Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznań), Mieczysława Zdanowicz (Refugee Council).

The conference was accompanied by two publications: a Polish version of a guidebook on rights resulting from European citizenship Fifty Questions and Answers on European Citizenship and a collection of articles Rethinking Euro-pean Citizenship based on Euro Citizen Action Service studies.

On May 18-19, 2003 the Stefan Batory Foundation and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised a seminar with participation of politicians, journalists and non-governmental organisations’ activist from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. The participants discussed the experiences of cooperation between the Visegrad Group Countries as well as the Group’s perspectives after the EU accession of these countries.

The discussion participants were: Jozef Adamec (Visegrad Cooperation Coordinator, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovakia, Bratislava), Piotr Bajda (Polish Cultural Institute in Bratislava), Laszlo Csaba, (Professor at the Central European University, Budapest), Michał Czyż (Deputy Director of the Department of European Union, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw), Pavol Demes (German Marshall Fund of the United States, Bratislava), Akos Engelmeyer (former Ambassador of Hungary to Poland), Bogdan Góralczyk (Former Director of the Political Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Warszawa), Andras Gyenge (Director of Regional Cooperation Department, Visegrad Cooperation Coordinator, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Budapest), Mihaly Gyor (Ambassador of Hungary to Poland), Andrzej Jagodziński (Former Director of Polish Cultural Institute in Prague), Zbigniew Janas (Co-founder of Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity), Mirosław Jasiński (Director of the Polish Cultural Institute in Prague), Marek Jeziorski (Deputy Director of the Department of Europe, Visegrad Cooperation Coordinator, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw), Marek Jędrys (Director of the Department of Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw), Aleksander Kaczorowski (Deputy Editor-in-Chief Newsweek Polska), Dorota Komornicka (Founder and Chairman of Visegrad Network of CFs, Wójtowice), Krzysztof Komornicki (Point of View Association), Bedrich Kopecky (Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Poland), Maciej Koźmiński (Former Ambassador of Poland to Hungary), Andrzej Krawczyk (Ambassador of Poland to the Czech Republic), Csaba Lorincz (Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Advisor to the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs, Budapest), Pavol Lukac (Slovak Foreign Policy Association), Grigorij Meseznikov (President of the Institute of Public Affairs, Bratislava), Janusz Onyszkiewicz (Former Minister of National Defence), Jaromir Plisek (Director of the Central European Department, Visegrad Coordinator, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague), Urban Rusnak (Executive Director of the International Visegrad Fund), Jiri Schneider (Director of the Analysis and Planning Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague), Karel Jan Schwarzenberg (former Head of President’s Vaclav Havel Chancellery), Jan Truszczyński (Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw), Magda Vasaryova (Ambassador of Slovakia to Poland), Lubos Vesely (People in Need Foundation, Prague), Peter Weiss (Professor at the University of Economy in Bratislava), Agnieszka Wielowieyska (Director of the Department of Promotion, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw), Rafał Wiśniewski (Ambassador of Poland to Hungary).

On May 29, 2003 we co-organised the meeting of the Reflection Group on the Spiritual and Cultural Dimension of Europe, established by Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission and headed by Professor Krzysztof Michalski, Director of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. The discussed questions included the identity shaping process in the new European Union and relations with countries outside the EU. The discussion was held under the auspices of President Aleksander Kwaśniewski (the meeting took place in the Belvedere Palace). The participants were outstanding intellectuals and politicians from the EU member states, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.

The participants of the meeting included: Candan Azer (Ambassador of Turkey to Poland), Kurt Biedenkopf (former Prime Minister of Saxony), Bruno Dethomas (representative of the European Commission in Poland), Timothy Garton Ash (Professor at the Oxford University), Bronisław Geremek (former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland), Sandro Gozi (Cabinet of the European Commission President), Jaroslav Hrycak (historian, Ivan Franko University in Lviv), Danuta Hübner (Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw), Will Hutton (former Editor-in-Chief of the Observer), Tadeusz Iwiński (Secretary of State, Prime Minister’s Office), Grigorij Javlinski (President of the Jabloko Party, Moscow), Lena Kolarska- Bobińska (Director of the Institute of Public Affairs), Jurij Levada (sociologist, Moscow), Tadeusz Mazowiecki (former Prime Minister of Poland), Krzysztof Michalski (Director of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna), Piotr Nowina- Konopka (Deputy Vice-Chancellor of European College in Natolin), Wanda Rapaczyńska (President of the Board, Agora S.A), Mykola Riabczuk (Editor of Krytyka, Kiev), Adam Daniel Rotfeld (Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw), Aleksander Smolar (President of the Stefan Batory Foundation), Karel Jan Schwarzenberg (former Head of President’s Vaclav Havel Chancellery), Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz (Head of the Polish President’s Chancellery), Yasar Yakis (former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Turkey).

The discussion in the Belvedere Palace was the first public debate accompanying the regular meetings of the group. Successive discussions were planned to take place in Paris, Vienna and Berlin.

On May 30-31, 2003 the Stefan Batory Foundation organised the conference Cultural Assets and Property Problems – Experiences in Central Europe after 1989. The meeting focused on the problem of property rights to works of art taken over by the state in the communist era. A comparison was made between the legal ownership solutions adopted in various countries for private persons, social organisations, churches and religious associations.

The speakers included: Fero Alexander (Central Association of Jewish Religious Communities in Slovakia, Bratislava), Algis Balezentis (lawyer, Ministry of Justice, Vilnius), Grażyna Dremaite (conservator, President of the State Commission for Conservation of Lithuanian Monuments, Vilnius), Franiszek Cemka (Ministry of Culture, Warsaw), Nawojka Cieślińska–Lobkowicz (art historian, Forum on Dispersed Cultural Assets, Warsaw), Dorota Folga-Januszewska (art historian, National Museum in Warsaw), István Fodor (historian, archaeologist, Hunga-rian National Museum in Budapest), Gábor Galik (lawyer, Prime Minister’s Cabinet, Budapest), Hans-Joachim Hinz (historian, scientific information service – Dr. Tatzkow and Partners , Berlin), Pavel Jirásek (economist, Ministry of Culture, the Czech Republic), Jan Kudrna (lawyer, Law Department of Karl University in Prague), Serhij Kot (historian, Institute of Ukrainian History of the National Academy of Sciences in Ukraine, Kiev), Wojciech Kowalski (lawyer, honorary Ambassador, Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw), Jaroslaw Lobkowicz (member of Parliament, member of the Parliamentary Association of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Prague), Astrid Müller-Katzenburg (lawyer, barrister, Berlin), Ágnes Peresztegi (lawyer, Restitution Committee of the Hungarian Jewish Communities Association, Budapest), Jacek Purchla (art historian, International Centre of Culture in Cracow), Andrzej Rottermund (art historian, the Royal Castle in Warsaw), Stefan Turner (Lawyer, Research Institute for International Protection of Cultural Assets, Saarbrücken).

The conference was the third meeting in the Displaced Cultural Property cycle organised by the Stefan Batory Foundation since 2002 devoted to the problem of lost or displaced cultural property which in the result of wars and border shifts were moved to the territory of other states. We would like to hold public debates on this controversial topic that has been passed over in silence for many years and contribute to the process of elaborating a common stance of Central and Eastern European Countries on this issue on the international forum.

The Stefan Batory Foundation co-organised the teleconference on the future of Europe, which was held on June 23, 2003. The teleconference was a part of the project Hearing from Europe – a discussion involving representatives of EU Member States and accession countries.

The participants of the discussion included: representatives of Ireland – Alan Dukes (former Minister of Transport, Energy and Communication, General Director of the Institute for European Affairs), Garret FitzGerald (former Prime Minister of Ireland), Paul Gillespie (Head of Foreign Department The Irish Times), Turlough O’Sullivan (General Director of the Irish Confederation of Business and Employers); representatives of Poland – Henryka Bochniarz (President of the Polish Confederation of Private Employers), Danuta Hübner (Minister for European Affairs), Aleksander Smolar (President of the Stefan Batory Foundation), Henning Tewes (Director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Poland) and representatives of Portugal – Victor Martins (Senior Consultant of the European Investment Bank in Citigroup and former Secretary of State for European Affairs), Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins (Member of Parliament and Member of the European Convent), Francisco Sarsfield Cabral (journalist, Rádio Renascença), Alvaro de Vasconcelos (Director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies). The debate was moderated by Giles Merritt (journalist and Secretary General of Friends of Europe Association), and presentations were commented by Antonio Vitorino (UE Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Justice).

The meetings were broadcast live on the Internet, and brief reports were presented by numerous European TV stations. The coordinator of the pan-European project was the Friends of Europe Association, and the discussion in Poland was co-organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Media patronage over the conference was held by TVN 24.

The Enlarged European Union and Ukraine: New Relations

The Enlarged European Union and Ukraine project was launched in 2002. It aims at evaluating the relations between the EU and Ukraine, analysing the influence of the EU enlargement on those relations and at preparing possible strategies and specific solutions concerning the relations between the enlarged Union and Ukraine, a country that will become EU immediate neighbour after 2004.

We prepare a set of political, social and economic analyses and reports and recommendations concerning, among others, the new EU policy towards Ukraine and necessary changes to be introduced in Ukraine in the light of integration processes. The termination of the project is planned for 2004.

The project is implemented in cooperation with Ukrainian partners (mainly the Renaissance Foundation from Kiev) and Polish and foreign institutions, with the financial aid of the Polish-American-Ukrainian Cooperation Initiative (PAUCI).

In 2003, within the frames of the project an initial report was prepared entitled More than a Neighbour – Proposals for the EU’s Future Policy towards Ukraine, which was presented in February at the headquarters of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. EU officials, diplomats, experts and journalists participated in the discussion on the report. In June, we presented the Ukrainian edition of the report in Kiev. In 2003, experts were working on the project of the final report. Two seminars (January and June) took place and in the fall a final version of the report was prepared. On the Foundation’s website 12 analyses on various aspects of relations between the EU and Ukraine prepared by the experts participating in the project were posted

Experts participating in the project: Mirosław Bieniecki (Central European University, Warsaw), Dr Hanna Bojar (Institute of Sociology of the Polish Aca-demy of Science, Warsaw), Jakub Boratyński (the Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw), Alexander Duleba (Slovak Foreign Policy Association, Bratislava), Michael Emerson (Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels), Grzegorz Gromadzi (the Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw), Prof. Olexiy Haran (Kiev-Mohylan Academy), Małgorzata Jakubiak (Centre for Socio-Economic Analyses, Warsaw), Joanna Konieczna (Institute of Sociology of the Warsaw University), Iryna Kravchuk (European and Comparative Law Centre, Kiev), Prof. Joanna Kurczewska (Institute of Sociology of the Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw), Zsuzsanna Ludvig (Institute for World Economics, Budapest), Hryhorij Nem-yria (Renaissance Foundation, Kiev), László Póti (Institute for Strategic and Defence Studies, Budapest), Oleksandr Sushko (Center for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine, Kiev), Marius Vahl (Centre for European Policy Stu-dies, Brussels), Kataryna Wolczuk (Centre for Russian and East European Stu- dies, University of Birmingham), Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski (the faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of Łódź).

Next to analyses and reports, a very important part of the project constituted sociological research. We conducted four studies: two in Ukraine and two in Poland. In January 2003, in the Foundation’s main office, and in June in Kiev, the results of the 2002 public opinion polls in Poland were presented. They concerned the attitude of Poles towards the economic migration and towards the introduction of visas for the citizens of Ukraine. The studies’ results, entitled Poles and Ukrainians, Poland and Ukraine. The Paradoxes of Neighbourly Relations (by Joanna Konieczna) were posted on the Foundation’s website and published in the Ukrainian language. In the summer of 2003 we conducted a public opinion poll in Ukraine on the attitude towards the EU enlargement process and its effects on Ukraine and on the economic migration of Ukrainians to the neighbouring countries. The results of the poll were presented in October in Wrocław, during the conference devoted to the Polish-Ukrainian cooperation, organised by the Collegium of Eastern Europe.

Besides public opinion polls, in both countries the so called qualitative studies were conducted. The studies conducted in Ukraine included 30 interviews with Ukrainian politicians and persons known to the public. We obtained a vast set of exhaustive and highly differentiated opinions of the representatives of Ukrainian elites on the relations between Ukraine and the EU. The interviews conducted in Ukraine were published in English and Ukrainian.

In spring, a group of sociologists from the Polish Academy of Science under the guidance of prof. Joanna Kurczewska conducted 70 interviews on the Polish-Ukrainian mutual relationships following the EU accession. Among the interviewed were Poles (the representatives of local authorities, border guards and police, businessmen and NGO activists) and Ukrainian citizens living and working (legally and illegally) in Poland.

Information on the project, including, among others, the list of experts and publications, is available on the Batory Foundation website: www.batory.org.pl/english/intl/ukraina.htm.

European Choice for Belarus

In 2002 we launched a project aimed to initiate a joint work of independent Belarus experts on collection of recommendations concerning the direction of reforms in Belarus. The project received grant from the National Endowment for Democracy.

In 2003 four meetings of teams of experts took place. They worked on: the concept of economic reforms (6-9 February), political reforms (7-9 March), social reforms (11-13 April) and the reforms in the field of education (25-27 April and 30 May -1 June). Current and future EU policy towards Belarus was also discussed. Participants of the meetings included the representatives of various expert circles from state and independent research centres, academic centres and NGOs as well as journalists.

The participants of the project included a large group from Belarus and guests from Eastern and Central European countries: Galina Agapova (Estonia), Dariusz Filar (Poland), Elka Georgieva- Nikolova (Bulgaria), Ihor Kolushko (Ukraine), Martin Valentovič (Slovakia), Tomasz Żukowski (Poland), Elżbieta Królikowska (Poland), Józef Płoskonka (Poland), Vladyslav Romanov (Ukraine), Ruta Vainiene (Lithuania).

The findings of the project were published in Belarus: Reform Scenarios (edited by: Ales Antsipenka, Valer Bulhakau, Agnieszka Komorowska), presenting the possible scenarios of future democratic and pro-European reforms in Belarus. Their authors of the publication include: Nina Antanovich, Lavon Barshcheuski, Mikalai Burdyka, Pavel Daneyka, Henadz Hermanovich, Mikhail Husakouski, Alena Karpievich, Andrus Klikonou, Ales Lahviniets, Uladzimer Lukevich, Alyaksandar Macias, Syarhey Pyatsinkin, Uladzimer Rouda, Galina Rusetskaya, Sofia Savelava, Alyaksandar Sasnou, Valery Sidarchuk, Pavel Terashkovich, Andrei Vardamatski, Galina Verameychik, Mikalai Zaprudzki, Barys Zhaliba, Alyaksandr Zhuchkou. The scenarios were published in three languages: Belarusian, Russian and English.

On November 3, 2003 the first out of three scheduled presentations of this publication took place in Minsk, Belarus, attended by the experts, politicians and journalists including: Stanislav Bohdankievich (United Civic Party), Valer Karbalevich (analyst, Strategia Centre, Minsk), Uladzimer Parfyanovich (deputy, National Assembly – House of Representatives), Ihor Pelipas (Privatisation and Management Institute, Minsk), Vincuk Viachorka (Belarus Peoples’ Front). Tadeusz Pawlak,. Polish ambassador in Belarus, also participated in the meeting.

On November 27, 2003 the publication was presented in Warsaw. Polish presentation was accompanied by the discussion moderated by Aleksander Smolar Can Belarus be Reformed? Our guests included Anatoly Lebedko (United Civic Party), Zhanna Litvina (president of the Union of Journalists of Belarus), Alyaksandr Milinkievich (NGO activist), Vitalij Silicki (economist and political science specialist) and Vincuk Viachorka.

Since the year 2000, we have been operating a scholarship program for young scientists from Belarus in the fields of economy, law, and sociology, enabling them to attend internships at Polish universities and research institutions. Internships are to help prepare the community of young Belarusian scientists for reform in their own country.

In 2003 the following institutions hosted the Belarusian interns: Commissio-ner for Civil Rights Protection Office, the Polish Academy of Science (Institutes of Philosophy and Sociology, of Legal Sciences, of Rural and Agriculture Deve-lopment), the Warsaw School of Economics SGH (Institute of Statistics and Demography, International Marketing Department, International Finance Department, Collegium of Management and Finance), University of Silesia (Fa-culty of Law and Administration) and Warsaw University (Institute of Criminal Law, Institute of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, Faculty of Management, Department of Macro Economy and Small Business Department).

The following interns enrolled in the program: Galina Aleksava (Minsk), Alya-ksey Anishchanka (Minsk), Natalia Anohina (Minsk), Syarkhey Artsemyeu (Minsk), Olga Belaia (Minsk), Tatsiana Bratsyankava (Minsk), Mikalai Burdyka (Minsk), Andrey Buyeu (Osipoviche), Nadzeya Yurashevich (Minsk), Volha Karnitskaya (Minsk), Mikhail Kolbuh (Minsk), Alyaksey Lastouski (Lukashova), Yuri Luka (Minsk), Pavel Mishyn (Novopolotsk), Vadzim Paulau (Minsk), Liliya Razaronava (Minsk) and Yuri Zvirblov (Minsk).

In 2001, we began organizing a series of lectures on Roads to Democracy and the Free Market at universities of Belarus, to debate issues of economic and system transformation in countries of the region. In April 2003 lectures on Structural changes in Polish economy on our way to EU were delivered by prof. Jerzy Osiatyński and Transformation of the legal system in Poland in relation with the EU accession were delivered by Michał Skwier-czyński of the Department of European Law of the Office of the Committee for the European Integration. Further lectures delivered in May by prof. Zdzisław Najder were about Polish plans for the European eastern policy. Those attending the lectures were the students of the Belarusian State University, the European University of Humanities, the Institute of Legal Sciences and the independent education initiative Belarusian Collegium. The lecturers attended meetings with young economists of the Institute of Management and Privatisation, the journalists of Bialoruskij Rynok and politicians. All lectures have been organised together with the Polish Institute in Minsk and the Belarusian Schuman Society.

Monitoring of the Openness of Polish Eastern Borders

It is a joint project of the Batory Foundation and the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation aimed at promoting the idea of a friendly and open Eastern EU border. In June 2003 we jointly presented the report Monitoring of Polish Eastern Borders (by Jakub Boratyński, Marta Kindler, Irena Rzeplińska, Karolina Sta-wicka, Ernest Zienkiewicz) prepared on the basis of a survey conducted in 2002 among foreigners crossing Polish eastern border. This report presents the image of a Polish border as seen by the foreigners from the East and includes suggestions and recommendations concerning the improvement of attitude towards foreigners and the development of the infrastructure of border crossings on the eastern border. The findings of the report were handed to border services and institutions in charge of Polish eastern policy.

In the summer of 2003 we began preparing for the second phase of the project, in which we monitor the procedures of issuing visas to the citizens of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine by Polish consulates (since October 1, 2003, travellers from those countries entering Poland must have Polish visas). Involved in the implementation of the project are also Collegium Civitas from Warsaw and NGOs from the East: Kowczeg Association (Odessa), the Organisation for the Protection of the Rights of the Youth of Volyn (Luck), European Dialogue (Lviv), Centre for Peace, Conversion and Ukraine Foreign Policy (Kiev), Charkov Group for Human Rights Protection, Centre for Social and Political Studies Strategia (St. Petersburg), the Moscow Helsinki Group, Kaliningrad Regional Social Organisation Regiomonti. Organisations from Belarus also participated in the project.

On the basis of our partners’reports on the procedure of issuing visa in the first two weeks after their introduction, we passed our initial suggestions and remarks concerning visa procedures to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In October and November the working meetings of partner organisations were held to prepare them for the monitoring survey. During one of those meetings, the importance of this project in terms of human and foreigners’ rights protection was stressed by, among others, Siergiej Kovaliov (former Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection in Russia) and Ljudmila Aleksiejeva (president of the International Helsinki Federation of Human Rights).

Cooperation in the Region

The Journalists’ Club project – targeting regional press journalists from Belarus, Poland and Ukraine – comprises a series of study tours to the purpose of establishing a contact network and information exchange, thus raising the number of press articles on conditions in states of the region, and serving to overcome any existent prejudice and stereotypes. The Club was initiated in 2001.

The first study visit in 2003 (March 24-28, Warsaw) was devoted to the analysis of stereotypes present in press articles, radio and TV programs. The journalists discussed e.g. stereotypes on women, national minorities, AIDS victims, the drug addicted and mentally ill persons as well as the importance of national stereotypes in common relations between the citizens of Belarus, Poland and Ukraine.

The second study visit (October 19-23, Lviv, October 23-26, Przemyśl) was devoted to the situation on both sides of the Polish-Belarusian border and Polish-Ukrainian border following the introduction of visas. The effects of the visa system on the political and economic cooperation were discussed: problems arising in terms of cross-border cooperation, regulations of issuing visa for the citizens of Belarus and Ukraine, conditions, procedures and methods of operation at Polish consulates in Ukraine. The participants visited also Polish and Ukrainian Customs Offices and two border crossings: in Rawa Ruska and Korczowa. The study visit was co-organized by the Meridian Centre on Information Studies from Lviv headed by Oleksandr Lavrynovich, one of the journalists’ club members.

In the study visits of 2003 the journalists from the following Belarusian newspapers participated – Birża Informacii (Grodno), Info-Kurier (Slutsk), Inform-Progulka (Luninets), Intex-Press (Gorodishche), Kurier iz Borisova (Borisov), Vitebskij Kurier (Vitebsk); Polish – Gazeta Krakowska (Cracow), Kurier Lubelski (Lublin), Nowiny (Rzeszów), Tygodnik Powszechny (Cracow); Ukrainian – Tchernihivski Vidomosti (Chernihiv), Halytchyna (Ivano-Frankovsk), Ilitcheviec (Mariupol), Interfax-Ukraina (Odessa), Naddniprianska Pravda (Cherson), Nova Ternopilska Hazeta (Tarnopil), Radio Svoboda (Donetsk), Sim NeibDni, (Rivne), Starij Zamok (Uzhorod), Territoria (Odessa), Urjadovyj Kurier (Rivne), Vilne Slovo (Zhytomyr), Vriemia Cze (Odessa), Wysokij Zamok (Lviv).

Since 2000 we have been supporting initiatives aimed at the development of cooperation between various stakeholder groups (local government, cultural and academic institutions, non-governmental organisations and business associations) in the Kaliningrad District, Poland and Lithuania. The main partners of the project are: Elbląg Association for NGO Initiative Support and Boru-ssia Cultural Community Association. In 2003 a coalition of 30 institutions, organisations and companies interested in cooperation was established, within which the following task groups were initiated – on youth issues, civic organisations, business, culture and education, tourism and local governments cooperation.

In December 15, a seminar on cooperation between the Varmia and Mazurian Province and the Kaliningrad District was held, co-organised by the Olsztyn Municipal Authority Office, the President of Elbląg and Elbląg Association for NGO Initiative Support.

The project was launched in 2000 jointly with the editing office of the Mówią Wieki monthly magazine to promote innovative methods of teaching history in schools. In 2003, subsequent brochure of this series was published, entitled: Alternative History: A Polish-Russian meeting (bilingual edition – Polish-Russian, edited by Bogusław Kubisz). It included: the introduction by Rafał Jaworski (the Warsaw University) and Jarosław Krawczyk (editorial office of the Mówią Wieki) as well as the materials from the meeting, participated by teachers and students of the Stanisław Wyspiański Secondary School in Biecz, the IX Secondary School of Bydgoszcz, the Complex of Electrical-Energetical Schools in Wałbrzych and the 40 School in Kaliningrad as well as schools from Rostov-on-Don.

Polish NGOs Abroad

Since the spring of 2001, a Foundation-initiated Working Group of Polish NGOs Active Internationally has been in operation. The Foundation actively participates in Group’s activities. In January 2003 the representatives of the Group were invited to the Council for Cooperation with NGOs established at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the frame of dialogue with the Foreign Ministry the Group consulted Polish strategy of cooperation for development, adopted by the Council of Ministers in October 2003.

The Group published a paper Poland-Ukraine. The Cooperation of NGOs, in which the experience from Polish and Ukrainian NGOs’ cooperation were presented. Working group representatives took part in the annual Economic Forum in Krynica, where achievements of Polish non-governmental organisations operating in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia were presented. In November 2003 they participated in the conference organised by the Polish Embassy in Kiev on the cooperation of Polish and Ukrainian NGOs after Poland’s accession to the EU. During the Forum and Kiev conference an exhibition documenting the activity of Polish NGOs in Ukraine was presented.

Since the fall the secretariat of the Group is maintained from the contributions of organisations creating the Polish NGOs Abroad Group and grants from the Canadian International Development Agency – Official Development Assistance in Central Europe, CIDA-ODACE. The Group also undertook actions aimed at changing the informal character of the coalition of NGOs into a union of associations. The website www.go2east.ngo.pl, on the activities of Polish NGOs operating abroad, was developed.

On March 31 – April 1, 2003 we organised a training seminar Polish NGOs Working Abroad. Prospects for Cooperation Following Poland’s Entry into the EU for the members of the Polish NGOs Abroad Group, with Claudia Bonk, the representative of the federation of non-governmental organisations CONCORD (grouping European organisations dealing with international development) and Jeremy Nagoda, the representative of the European Commission (Europe Aid). During the seminar the cooperation of Polish organisations with EU institutions was discussed (including the use of funds destined for foreign aid) as well as the cooperation with the European representation of NGOs dealing with development aid.

Polish NGO Office in Brussels

Initiated and supported by the Batory Foundation, the Polish NGO Office in Brussels is a joint action of several organisations, the main partner in the implementation of this project is the Association for the Forum on Non-Governmental Initiatives. The Office works to prepare organisations to an active participation in the European integration process, the promotion of the Polish third sector in the EU institutions and initiating the cooperation with networks of NGOs operating in the EU. The Office informed on European issues essential from the point of view of NGOs, assisted in initiating cooperation between Polish and European partners, presented the positions of NGOs, among others, before the convent preparing the EU constitutional treaty and advocated for a better access to European funds by e.g. coordinating the protest when Polish government did not plan funds for the development of a civil society in PHARE 2002 program. The protest resulted in the invitation for non-government community to the consultations on PHARE 2003 program and earmarking part of its funds to NGOs. The Office co-ordinated the action of an open letter to the Commissioner Günter Verheugen concerning the ongoing debate in the EU on the policy for neighbours. It was signed by over 300 organisations from the accessing countries and the countries of Eastern Europe – future EU neighbours.

Information and Education in Relation to the EU Accession

7 papers were prepared within the Poles in the European Union project, initiated in 2002. Three were published in 2003: Farmers, and Rural Development (in cooperation with the Rural Development Foundation) and Culture (in cooperation with the national Centre for Culture). In the booklets we presented the EU assistance programs and tried to answer the most frequently asked questions. The booklets were distributed all over Poland before and after the referendum on the accession with the help of such institutions as: Regional European Information Centres, Office for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Competition, Federation of Consumers and Consumer Federation Clubs, Citizen Assistance Offices, the Polish Agency for Entrepreneurship Development, the SPLOT Non-Governmental Organisations Support Network Centres, Foundation in Support of Local Democracy centres with its regional offices, Euro-info Centres, Polish Council for the European Movement, National Centre for Culture.

For the third time, a Foundation-initiated competition on simulations of EU accession negotiations for high school students was organized. The main orga-niser of the third edition was the Foundation in Support of Local Democracy. The competition was organised under the auspices of the Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Poland and the European Commission’s Representative Office in Poland. Gazeta Wyborcza daily, Unia & Polska magazine together with education website Eduseek became media patrons for the third edition of the event.

In 2003 more than 320 schools from all over Poland participated in three sta-ges of the contest (at school, regional and national levels). The contest provi-ded also an opportunity for local communities to engage in debates on the Polish accession to the European Union; its subsequent stages involved community events: festivals, European Days, referenda organised by schools together with local partners.

Four school teams were recognised as contest winners: the V August Witkowski Secondary School from Cracow, the Mikołaj Rej Secondary School from Jędrzejów, the III Polish Navy Secondary School from Gdynia and the Tadeusz Kościuszko Secondary School from Gorzów Wielkopolski. The team from Cracow was awarded the title of Primus inter pares . Winners received the Young Negotiator Certificate and a study visit to Brussels. Teachers-supervisors of the teams and regional contest coordinators also participated in the June visit to European institutions. During the finals the results of a mini-contest for the title of Regional Reporter of Become a Negotiator! Competition were announced by the Jury: five distinctions, ex aequo, went to five winners.

The Negotiator’s Vademecum materials developed for the competition (student and teacher handbooks and CD-ROM) are used as a teaching aid in European education. Additionally, a ZostanNegocjatorem@ngo.pl discussion group was set up for young negotiators and teachers.

The Foundation works with the World Bank and the Bertelsmann Foundation as part of the euintegration.net project targeting the development of valuable European Union reference material on the web, and more efficient information exchange among EU candidate countries. Our task is to encourage Polish institutions to engage in a joint effort to found a web-based library with a collection of reports, analyses and papers drafted in candidate states on selected topics concerning EU integration.

In 2003 we were disseminating the reports prepared in 2002 within the frames of cooperation with the EUAMP Open Society Institute Program: Judiciary Efficiency (by Łukasz Bojarski) and Minority Protection (by Beata Klimkiewicz).

We made a grant to the Local Government Institute of Małopolska to organise a debate with the participation of the representatives of Roma communities and local governments on the Minority protection report.

We organised two visits of American GMMF fellows to Poland (Cracow-Warsaw, 29 March – 1 April, 14-17 June) to present Poland’s recent problems and achievements as well as development prospects. During the meetings Polish political and social perspective was discussed, as well as the situation of the Catholic Church alongside religious and ethnic minorities in Poland; other topics focused on changes in the educational system and the non-governmental sector development. The visit was organised in collaboration with the German Marshall Memorial Fund of the United States.

Grants to Support Partnership Programs