Elena Mârzac (Executive Director of the Information and Documentation Center on NATO in Moldova) and Hennadiy Maksak (Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”) attended the 13th EaP panel on CSDP and civil protection. Our civil society representatvies learned from the attending EU officials that EaP countries value common security and defense cooperation with the EU highly, given that about 3000 government staffers and civil servants from EaP administrations have so far attended trainings, meetings and seminars in the context of CSDP.

Mârzac and Maksak report that there will be a new regional programme on improving cyber resilience of EaP countries. Furthermore, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine are to continue contributions to CSDP military and civilian missions, as especially Ukraine is soon renewing its Cooperation Agreement on involvement in CSDP missions. With PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation)’s institutionalising further, the EU will assess eligibility for EaP countries to join, especially those with AA/DCFTAs in place.

During the event, Mârzac stressed that both EU and EaP can learn from each other in communicating CSDP and civil protection. Accordingly, together with EU Member States and EU-Accession Candidates, EaP countries may now participate in a survey on hybrid risks. With an eye on the EaP’s future, Maksak demanded that security should be elevated more as a topic within the EaP agenda, and a specific additional platform on security should be established.