Reconfiguring EU Democracy Support. Towards a Sustained Demos in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood

December 2023

In December 2023, we conducted a series of online focus groups entitled “What is Europe?”, involving 100 citizens from the EU27 and some from its eastern neighbourhood (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan).

The aim of this project was to address the fragile state of democracy in Eastern Europe and provide ways forward for EU democracy support in its eastern neighbourhood. The project took a deep dive into the full array of political and governance regimes in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood, from flawed democratization in some countries to democratic regression and even repressive authoritarianism in others.

The project, to be continued with two new series of group discussions in 2024 and 2025, aims to break new ground and propose a wholesale, transformative reset in conceptualising, policy-making, and implementing democracy in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood and to ensure the voices of marginalized groups are heard.

Stay tuned to read the outcome!