International Cooperation Program

International conferences

On May 7-8, 2004, in cooperation with the German International Affairs and Security Institute of the Science and Policy Foundation (SWP) from Berlin and the European Studies Centre at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University, we organized an international conference in Warsaw with the participation of renowned intellectuals, experts, current and former politicians and high-ranking officials of the European Union.

Four panel discussions sought to answer what the intellectual and political as well as historical identifications of Central and Eastern Europe are in the context of its geopolitical position between Russia and Germany? Is the USA interested in continued European integration? What is the role of the “New Europe” in the European strategy of the US and in the American policy with respect to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova? In what direction should NATO evolve? What is the attitude toward Euro-Atlantic relations in Western Europe as compared to Central and Eastern Europe? Should the European Union expand, and if so, to include what states? What are interests, aspirations and expectations of Central and Eastern European states within the European Union? On the second day of the conference, Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, gave a special lecture New challenges facing America and Europe.

The following took part in the conference: Christoph Bertram (Director of the Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin), David P. Calleo (Johns Hopkins University, Washington), Robert Cooper (General Director for Foreign and Political-Military Affairs, Secretariat General of the Council of Europe, Brussels), Timothy Garton Ash (Director of the European Studies Centre at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University), Bronisław Geremek (former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Director of the European Civilization Faculty at the European College in Natolin), Heather Grabbe (Research Director, European Reform Centre, London), Elemér Hankiss (Research Director, Political Science Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest), Pierre Hassner (Centre for International Studies and Research CERI, Paris), Danuta Hübner (member of European Commission, Brussels), Ken Jowitt (University of California at Berkeley), Ivan Krastev (Director of Liberal Strategy Centre, Sofia), Marcin Król (Dean of Applied Social Sciences and Rehabilitation, Warsaw University), Dominique Moisi (Vice Director of the French International Affairs Institute IFRI, Paris), Andrzej Olechowski (former Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Poland, Director of Studium Generale Europa), Adam D. Rotfeld (Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Jacques Rupnik (Research Director, Centre for International Studies and Research CERI, Paris), Anne-Marie Slaughter (Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University), Timothy Snyder (Yale University) and numerous speakers from Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Conference materials were published in Przegląd Polityczny monthly (Polish version). English version with the texts of all speeches given during the session was published in New Geopolitics of Central and Eastern Europe. Between the European Union and United States publication.

New European Union and Ukraine

The goal of this project, launched in 2002, is to evaluate relations between the European Union and Ukraine, analyze the impact Union enlargement will have on these relations as well as the development of possible strategies and specific solutions regarding relations between the enlarged Union and Ukraine, which became its direct neighbour in 2004. In 2004, our activities concerned relations between the enlarged European Union and Ukraine and Ukrainian presidential election.

In cooperation with partners from Ukraine, Poland and other states, we prepared a series of political, social and economic analyses, which were used in two of our publications: More than Neighbours. The Enlarged European Union and Ukraine - New Relations. Final Report as well as More than Neighbours. The Enlarged European Union and Ukraine - New Relations. Policy Paper. Both publications garnered extensive interest from politicians, experts and journalists from Ukraine, Poland and other EU member states.

On February 13, 2004, at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, we organized a presentation of the Final Report. The following took part in the meeting: Günter Verheugen, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and the Polish and Ukrainian vice ministers of foreign affairs: Jan Truszczynski and Oleh Shamshur. The following took part as panellists: Olexiy Haran (School of Political Analysis of Kyiv-Mohylan Academy, Kiev), Małgorzata Jakubiak (Centre for Social and Economic Research, Warsaw), Kataryna Wolczuk (Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham), Alexander Duleba (Slovak Foreign Policy Association, Bratislava), Marius Vahl (Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels), Igor Burakovsky (Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, Kiev), Oleksandr Sushko (Centre for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine), Jakub Boratyński and Grzegorz Gromadzki (Batory Foundation, Warsaw). About 130 people took part in the meeting, including employees of the Council of Europe, European Commission, diplomats, experts, representatives of NGOs and journalists.

On March 26-27, 2004, the EU Relations with Ukraine: A Visegrad Perspective conference was held in Bratislava, organized by the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA) and the Batory Foundation. The following spoke on the first day of the conference: Peter Ptassek, representative of the Wider Europe Task Force, persons engaged in projects concerning EU relations with Ukraine: Jakub Boratyński, Grzegorz Gromadzki and Marius Vahl (Batory Foundation project), Iryna Solonenko (East-West Institute project), Iris Kempe (Centre for Applied Policy Research project) and Alexander Duleba (SFPA). The results of Union enlargement for the Carpathian Euroregion were presented by Vladimir Bilcik (SFPA). On the second day of the conference, a discussion chaired by Pavol Demeš (German Marshall Fund) was held concerning the possible forms of cooperation and assistance that Visegrad states can offer Ukraine.

On March 31 in Rzeszów, April 1 in Lublin and April 2 in Warsaw, we organized a series of presentations of the More than Neighbours report with the participation of some of the report’s authors (Jakub Boratyński, Grzegorz Gromadzki, Oleksij Haran, Iryna Kravtshuk, Oleksandr Sushko, Marius Vahl, Kataryna Wolczuk, Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski). Each of the presentations consisted of four sessions devoted to the report’s main themes: Ukrainian strategy for integration with the EU, European Union policy toward Ukraine, the role of new member states in a EU–Ukrainian relations, main areas of integration. In Lublin and Rzeszów, there were additional sessions presenting the results of research concerning Polish-Ukrainian relations and expectations related to Poland’s accession to the EU (research results were presented by Anna Gąsior-Niemiec and Mirosław Bieniecki from the Polish Academy of Sciences as well as Joanna Konieczna from the Sociology Institute at the University of Warsaw). The presentation in Rzeszów was prepared in cooperation with the College of Information Technology and Management, and in Lublin by the Central and Eastern Europe Institute. About 200 representatives of Polish state institutions, local authorities, academic circles, NGOs, experts involved with Union and Ukrainian issues as well as Polish and foreign press took part in the meetings.

On May 13, 2004 at the Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London, during the The Enlarged European Union and Ukraine: New Relations seminar, which garnered experts from institutions involved with international relations, academics, journalists and diplomats, the More than Neighbours report was presented by its three authors: Jakub Boratyński, Grzegorz Gromadzki and Kataryna Wolczuk. Over 130 people took part in the meeting.

In May and June 2004, we organized a cycle of presentations in eastern and western Ukraine of the More than Neighbours. Final Report and Policy Paper with the participation of some of the report’s authors (Jakub Boratyński, Grzegorz Gromadzki, Oleksiy Haran, Iryna Kravchuk, Oleksandr Sushko, Marius Vahl, Kataryna Wolczuk, Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski): Kiev (May 26), Donietsk (May 27), Dnipropetrovsk (28 May), Charkov (May 29), Ivanofrankivsk (June 24), Uzhorod (June 25) and Lviv (June 26). About 550 people took part in the meetings: Ukrainian politicians and state officials, representatives of the administration, local government, NGOs and academic circles, journalists and students. The Ukrainian Renaissance Foundation was the co-organizer of the presentation in Charkov, the most successful of all in Eastern Ukraine. The presentation in Lviv took place during the conference concerning relations between Ukraine and the EU, organized by the Ji magazine.

We prepared two reports: Ukraine at a Crossroads. The Presidential Elections 2004 containing possible scenarios for Ukraine after the elections and Ukraine and the EU after the Orange Revolution, which was drafted during the heated period of the Orange Revolution and was another attempt at analyzing Ukraine’s future in light of current events. An international team prepared the reports: Grzegorz Gromadzki (Batory Foundation), Kataryna Wolczuk (University of Birmingham), Roman Wolczuk (University of Wolverhampton), Oleksandr Suszko (Centre for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine, Kiev) and Marius Vahl (Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels).

On May 20, 2004, jointly with the Centre for Eastern Studies, we organized an expert meeting with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chancellery of the President and Prime Minister, at which we discussed what Poland, as a member of the EU, could do on behalf of Ukraine. One of the results of this meeting was a draft of declaration supporting Ukraine’s European aspirations and calling upon the authorities of that state to respect democratic election principles. Moreover, in October-December, jointly with the Centre for Eastern Studies, we organized 5 seminars with the participation of experts and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss Poland’s position in the EU regarding eastern policy. The dominating theme was the presidential election in Ukraine.

On September 10, 2004, at the Economic Forum in Krynica, we prepared a discussion panel Action Plan European Union - Ukraine: groundbreaking or seeming? The following took part: Boris Tarasyuk, Chair of the Ukrainian Highest Council for European Affairs, Kai-Olaf Lang, expert from Berlin’s Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, and Grzegorz Gromadzki from the Batory Foundation. About 100 people took part in the panel moderated by Jakub Boratyński.

On October 12, 2004, in Brussels - in cooperation with Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Vice Chair of the European Parliament, and Bogdan Klich, deputy to the European Parliament, as well as the Centre for International Studies and the Strategic Studies Centre – we organized a seminar at which Oleksandr Sushko, Kataryna Wolczuk, Roman Wolczuk and Grzegorz Gromadzki presented the theses of Ukraine at the Crossroads. The Presidential Elections 2004 report. In the discussion with the participation of Oleh Rybachuk, a deputy to the Ukrainian Parliament, one of Victor Yushchenko’s closest associates, the possible scenario for Ukrainian reform was considered as was the future of its foreign policy, especially the development of Ukraine-EU relations if Victor Yushchenko wins the election.

On November 8, 2004, in Warsaw, we organized a public discussion: Ukrainian Elections. The meeting was held during the heated period after the first round of presidential elections. We invited experts from Ukraine to take part in the discussion: Kost’ Bondarenko (Director of the Social Processes Research Centre, expert from Kiev), Victoria Sereda (sociologist, Lviv University) and Oleksandr Sushko (Director of the Peace, Conversion and Ukrainian Foreign Policy Centre in Kiev). Jakub Boratyński from the Batory Foundation moderated the discussion. Lecturers commented the course of the election campaign in particular Ukrainian regions and presented scenarios for development of the situation in Ukraine. About 80 people took part in the meeting.

European Choice for Belarus

In 2002, we launched a project, which aims to initiate cooperation of independent Belarusian experts in debeloping recommendations concerning directions of change in Belarus and their dissemination among Belarusian elites and opinion-leading circles in the EU. The results of the experts’ work were published in Belarus: Scenarios for Reform presenting possible scenarios of future democratic and pro-European reforms in Belarus. The work was published in three languages: Belarusian, Russian and English.

In the fall of 2003, the publication was presented in Minsk and Warsaw. In 2004, we focused on dissemination of the publication in Belarus and among opinion-leading circles in the European Union.

In cooperation with the Belarusian Schuman Association, we prepared 10 meetings in 4 Belarusian districts (Minsk District: Vileyka, Borysov, Maladechno; Vitebsk District: Vitebsk, Haradok; Brest District: Byaroza, Brest, Luniniec; Mohylev District: Mohylev, Babruysk). Nearly 300 people took part in these meetings: representatives of local authorities, political parties, NGOs, teachers, journalists and business people. Reports on the meetings were published in 12 articles in the local press.

On November 15, 2004, in cooperation with the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Open Society Institute in Brussels, we organized a discussion in Brussels: A Place for Belarus in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities within the European Neighbourhood Policy. In addition to experts and representatives of European institutions and member states (including Hans Georg Wieck, former OSCE representative in Minsk), the following Belarusian politicians and experts took part in the meeting: Vincuk Viachorka (head of the Belarusian National Front), Vital Silicki (independent political scientist, co-author of the Belarus: Scenarios for Reform publication), Uladzislau Vialichka (Representative of the Union of Pro-Democratic Belarusian NGOs) and Olga Karach (independent representative in the Vitebsk city council). The result of the discussion was development of recommendations regarding, among other things, establishment of a special fund to support democracy in Belarus. The recommendations were forwarded to the European Commission, Council of the European Union, European Parliament and representatives of EU member states. Some recommendations were taken into account during the meeting of the European Commission on November 22, 2004.

On December 8, 2004, in cooperation with the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, we organized a meeting in Berlin regarding future European Union policy toward Ukraine and Belarus in light of current political events in these states: presidential elections in Ukraine and parliamentary elections and constitutional referendum in Belarus. The main assumption of the meeting was to find an answer to the question of how the European Union should react to the development of events beyond its eastern border. 40 experts, analysts and decision makers from Union circles took part in the meeting.

Friendly EU Border

The project conducted since 2002 by the Batory Foundation jointly with the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights aims to promote the idea of a friendly and open eastern border of the European Union. In 2004, we completed the monitoring of Poland’s visa policy, which we had begun a year earlier in an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of procedures for issuing Polish visas and their compliance with official declarations assuring simplified visa procedures for neighbours from the East. In addition to Collegium Civitas, which coordinated sociological research, the following partnership organizations from cities with Polish consulates took part in the project: Centre for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine, Kiev; Kovcheg Association of Support for Civil Initiatives, Odessa; Charkov Human Rights Protection Group; European Dialogue, Lviv; Volyn Youth Rights Protection Association, Lutsk; Regiomonti Regional Social Organisation for Kaliningrad; Moscow Helsinki Group; St. Petersburg Centre for Humanities and Political Studies Strategy and three organizations from Belarus.

At the outset of the year, trainings for partner organizations and pollsters were held in Lviv, Brest, Kaliningrad, Moscow and St. Petersburg. In February and March, the trained pollsters conducted research among persons seeking Polish visas and interviewed employees of consular offices in Ukraine, Belarus and the European part of Russia (training and research was covered from grants made by Batory Foundation). In April, a meeting was held in Warsaw with the participation of representatives of all partner organizations at which we presented the preliminary research results, recommendations and evaluation of hitherto cooperation. In June, we published the research report entitled Monitoring Polish Visa Policy.

On June 30, 2004, a public presentation of the report took pace in Warsaw with the participation of the following, amongst other: Danuta Przywara and Bartlomiej Tokarz (Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights), Leszek Chajewski (Collegium Civitas), Denis Torhov (St. Petersburg Centre for Humanities and Political Studies Strategy), Leonid Kalicenia (Center for Social Innovation from Minsk), Dr. Oleksandr Sushko (Center for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine, Kiev); Prof. Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski (Political Science Institute of the Polish Academy of Science) and Maciej Szymanski (Vide Director of the Consular and Polonia Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland).

The report was also presented at the conferences organized by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the results of introduction of visas by Poland (August 10 in Lviv and November 15 in Moscow).

On November 17, 2004, in conjunction with the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, we organized a seminar devoted to the future of European visa policy. Members of the EU visa policy working group, consisting of representatives from member states, took part. At the seminar, we presented the results of monitoring and recommendations concerning improvement of visa policy for the Union’s eastern neighbours.

As part of the Monitoring the openness of Poland’s eastern borders project, we announced a competition for press publications and radio pieces devoted to the situation on Poland’s eastern borders after the introduction of a visa requirement. The contest jury consisting of Dr. Irena Rzeplińska (Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights), Jacek Fuglewicz (Polish Public Radio Channel I Program Director), Dr. Gerhard Gnauck (Die Welt correspondent, Jury Chair), Jarosław Kurski (Gazeta Wyborcza), Dr. Stanisław Mocek (Collegium Civitas) and Volodimir Pavliv (Ukrainian section of Radio Free Europe) awarded prizes to the following journalists:

• Katarzyna Michalak – award for the radio piece Eden beyond a narrow river broadcast by Regional Polish Radio in Lublin (PLN 3 000),
• Marek Cynkar – award for the report Restraining envy broadcast by Radio Rzeszów (PLN 2 000),
• Jagienka Wilczak – award for the article Visas for hard currency published in the Polityka weekly (PLN 2 500),
• Tadeusz Szewczyk – award for the report Shadows over the crossing and a cycle of articles about the situation at border crossings with Ukraine published in the Gazeta Bieszczadzka (PLN 2 500),
• Jan Płaskoń – honourable mention for the article Tomorrow under the stars in Panorama Opolska,
• Monika Karpowicz - honourable mention for the article Last Belarusian published in the Przegląd Sejneński bi-weekly,
• Dariusz Chajewski – honourable mention for the article Right before the West published in the Gazeta Lubuska,
• Jarosław Iwaniuk and Jerzy Leszczyński – honourable mention for the report Under different pines broadcast in Polish Radio Bialystok.

In 2004, in cooperation with the East-East Program, we organized the Friendly Border competition, the aim of which was to support local coalitions active on behalf of establishing new border crossings, improvement of technical infrastructure and equipping existing border crossings. Three projects received grants for: preparation of analyses regarding border crossings, organization of public discussions, cultural and tourist events publicising coalition postulates and popularizing the idea of a friendly border.

Neighbourly cooperation

The project is addressed to journalists of the regional press from Belarus, Poland and Ukraine and includes a cycle of study and workshop visits, which are to serve establishing contacts and exchange of information, increasing the number of press publications devoted to the countries of this region and, as a result, breaking existing prejudices and stereotypes. The Club has been active since 2001.

Two journalists meetings were held in 2004. The first of those (Szczecin, Frankfurt-Oder, August 8-13) were devoted to social issues in the Polish-German trans-border region. The state of cooperation of local government authorities, business, border services and the police of both states, as well as specific initiatives serving to increase cooperation in various areas, e.g. Viadrina University or dialogue with expelled Germans. For the first time, the visit was co-organized by the Polish-German Club Against Stereotypes. The second meeting (Odessa, December 8-10) presented economic and social problems of the region as well as organizations acting on behalf of combating them, such as The way home (preventing child homelessness), Faith, hope, love (preventing trade in human cargo) or White Angel (integration of the disabled). The problems of refugees were also taken up.

The main organizer of the meetings was the Meridian Information Research Center from Lviv, directed by one of the Journalists Club members, Oleksandr Lavrynovich. Journalists from the following publications took part: Belarusian – Birzha Informacii (Grodno), Brestskij Kurier (Brest), Info-Kurier (Slutsk), Inform-Progulka (Luninets), Intex-Press (Baranoviche), Kurier iz Borysova (Borysov), Vitebskiy Kurier (Vitebsk); Polish – Nowiny (Rzeszów), Tygodnik Powszechny (Cracow), Polish-German Magazine Dialog (Szczecin); Ukrainian – Delowaja Odessa (Odessa), Halychyna (Ivanofrankivsk), Ilicheviec (Mariupol), Interfax-Ukraine (Odessa), Naddniprianska Pravda (Kherson), Nova Ternopilska Hazeta (Tarnopol), Radio Svoboda (Donietsk), Starij Zamok (Uzhorod), Territoria (Odessa), Urjadoviy Kurier (Rivne), Vikno (Chernihiv), Vilne Slovo (Zhytomyr), Vriemia Che (Odessa), Vysokij Zamok (Lviv).

As of 2000, as part of the Friendly Neighbourhood Forum project, we have been conducting activities on behalf of developing cooperation among various circles of the Kaliningrad District, Poland and Lithuania. The main partners in the project are: the Elbląg Association for NGO Initiative Support and Borussia Cultural Community Association from Olsztyn. As part of the program, an informal coalition of various circles was formed (local government, cultural and academic institutions, NGOs and economic associations) from the Varmia and Mazuria and Pomerania Provinces interested in working with the Kaliningrad District. Seven working groups consisting of representatives from Poland and Russia worked on common positions and proposals of systemic solutions serving development of cooperation. The groups were involved with the following areas: youth, trans-border entrepreneurship, civic organizations, culture, tourism and the hotel industry, cooperation of local governments and environmental protection. Numerous meetings and seminars were held as part of the project, the Forum bulletin was published, as were inserts to regional newspapers.

On October 14-15, 2004, an international conference Toward the future was organized by Forum in Elbląg with the participation of representatives of regional and local authorities, Kaliningrad District authorities, the Polish consul in Kaliningrad, the Ambassador of Lithuania in Poland, the Ambassador of Poland in Vilnius, as well as NGO activists, representatives of education institutions and business from Poland and the District. During the conference, in which about 300 people participated, there was discussion on up-to-date cooperation experiences and expectations for the future. Among other things, a complex report on cooperation with the Kaliningrad District was presented, which was financed from Foundation grants and prepared by the Borussia Association. 11 thematic workshops were held during the conference, including 7 prepared by working groups, from which conclusions and postulates were then presented at the plenary conference.

Displaced Cultural Property

Since 2002, we have operated a project devoted to the issue of missing or displaced cultural assets, which in the result of wars and border shifts were moved to the territory of other state. The project aims to stimulate public discourse on this controversial subject that has been passed over in silence for many years, and contribute to the process of developing a common position by the states of Central and Eastern Europe in that regard.

On May 28-29, 2004, we organized a seminar Property and cultural assets. The meeting was devoted to the ownership situation of cultural assets in Poland after 1989 (private property, problem of re-privatization, property of social institutions and churches). The lecturers included: Andrzej Dąbrowski (library science specialist, Kielce Provincial Public Library), Nawojka Cieślińska–Lobkowicz (art historian, Forum for Dispersed Cultural Assets, Warsaw), Dorota Folga-Januszewska (art historian, National Museum, Warsaw), Dariusz Grot (archivist, Central Directorate of State Archives, Warsaw), Urszula Grygiel (library science specialist, Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw), Agnieszka Jaskanis (art historian, State Archaeological Museum, Warsaw), Paweł Jaskanis (art historian, Museum-Palace in Wilanow, Warsaw), Adolf Juzwenko (historian, Ossoliński National Facility, Wrocław), Edyta Kotyńska (library science specialist, University of Wrocław Library), Krzysztof Kornacki (museologist, Zamoyski Museum in Kozłowka), Hanna Łaskarzewska (library science specialist, National Library, Warsaw), Zbigniew Pietrzyk (historian, Jagiellonian Library, Cracow), Andrzej Rottermund (art historian, Royal Castle in Warsaw), Władysław Stępniak (historian, Central Directorate of State Archives, Warsaw), Wojciech Suchocki (art historian, National Museum, Poznań), Mirosław Supruniuk (literature historian, Nicolai Copernicus University Library in Torun), Magdalena Tarnowska (historian, Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw), Stanisław Waltoś (attorney, Jagiellonian University, Cracow), and Krzysztof Zamorski (historian, Jagiellonian University, Cracow).

In cooperation with the Trio Publishing House, we published a selection of texts in Polish and English devoted to issues of plundered or transferred cultural goods during World War II: Displaced cultural property. The case of Western Europe and the problems of Central and Eastern European states in the 20th century. The authors, attorneys, historians and art historians from Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary presented the situation in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989, international legal regulation of the issue as well as the public discourse surrounding displaced cultural assets.

Polish NGOs Abroad

Since the spring of 2001, the Foundation has taken part in work initiated with our involvement by a coalition of Polish NGOs working abroad. The goals of the Polish NGO Abroad Group are: exchange of information between NGOs active abroad, cooperation with public administration, participation in formulating and implementing Polish aid policy, cooperation with related associations in other states, as well as dissemination of information about the activity of Polish NGOs abroad and seeking public support for such. The NGO Abroad Group uses an internet page at www.zagranica.ngo.pl to inform about its activities abroad. In 2004, the Group was registered as the union of associations with the membership of 23 organizations.

In 2004, Group representatives took part in work of the Council for Cooperation with NGOs of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland. As part of the dialogue with the MFA, the Group consulted the Framework plan of aid activities by the MFA for 2004 and the draft bill for the Act on Polish cooperation for development, and its representative took part as an observer in the discussions of the grant commission for NGO projects implemented in states undergoing transformation and developing countries.

Group Representatives also took part in the annual Economic Forum in Krynica, where they presented the achievements of Polish NGOs active in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and in January and February 2004 they took part in the 7th Inter-Governmental Polish-Ukrainian European Integration Conference.

In June, upon the initiative of the Batory Foundation, the NGO Abroad Group sent a letter to the Polish authorities with an appeal for Poland to make an active effort on the EU forum to accept a common declaration regarding Ukraine. The letter was accompanied by a draft declaration, which, one the one hand responded to Ukraine’s European aspirations while also underscoring the need to respect democratic aspirations during presidential elections. At the outset of September, the NGO Abroad Group publicly made an appeal to authorities, backed by Tadeusz Mazowiecki, former Polish Prime Minister, and former Polish ministers of foreign affairs, calling for immediate activities enabling numerous Poles to participate as election observers in Ukraine. After the sham second round of Ukrainian elections, the NGO Abroad Group got involved tohethet with the Free Ukraine initiative and other NGOs in establishing the Polish Observation Mission, as part of which over 200 people monitored the repeated second round in the Charkov Oblast.

On June 24-26, 2004, a seminar on assistance activity in peace-building was organized jointly with the Canadian International Development Agency - Official Development Assistance in Central Europe. Representatives of analogous coalitions from Hungary and Slovakia took part in the seminar. In September, in cooperation with the Trialog project, three-day workshops for members of the NGO Abroad Group were held on project planning methods.

Polish NGO Office in Brussels

The Polish NGO Office in Brussels, initiated and supported by the Batory Foundation, is a joint undertaking of several organizations, with the Association for the Forum on Non-Governmental Initiatives as the main partner in the implementation. The Office aims to assist NGOs to actively participate in the process of European integration, promote the Polish third sector among European institutions and initiate cooperation with NGO networks functioning in the Union. The Office has active offices in Brussels and Warsaw. It cooperates with Polish and Czech members of the European Economic and Social Committee and with members of the Public Benefit Activity Council at the Minister of Social Policy.

In 2004, the Office was active on behalf of assuring NGOs the broadest possible financing opportunities from European fund. It promoted the idea of providing structural funds (global grants) for distribution by NGOs and introduction of the same solutions for Norwegian and European Economic Area (EEA) funds (block grants). The office began ongoing exchange of information and experience with newly elected Euro-deputies, especially promoting global grants and the principle of partnership, as well as working on behalf of changes in Union financial regulations, which fundamentally hinder access by smaller organizations to Union funds. In 2004, the NGO Office took part in the work of the European Social Finance Office – an initiative of social economy banks.

Grants for partnership projects