Declaration by Coalition For European Continent Undivided by Visa Barriers

On 25 November 2010, we, the undersigned non-governmental organisations, launched a coalition for a European continent undivided by visa barriers. The coalition will contribute to policy processes leading as quickly as possible towards this goal.

We welcome the liberalisation of visa requirements for five Western Balkan countries, which underlines both the need for and the real possibility of extending this achievment to the rest of Europe.

We recognize the EU’s manifest support for the idea of visa liberalisation between the EU and Eastern Partnership countries and understand both the aspirations of the EU’s neighbours and the legitimate concerns of some member states. Nonetheless, the coalition fears that the slow progress of liberalisation is jeopardizing the broader goals of the European external policy.

We believe that for the security of our continent and for the continued  democratic transformation and modernisation in Eastern Europe – a process to which people-to-people contacts are vital -- effective action is needed linking the demands for implementation of reforms with a clear perspective of visa abolition.

We call upon the upcoming Hungarian and Polish Presidencies of the Council of the European Union to remember the transformation of Central Europe and to take concrete steps towards visa-free travel within Europe.

Signed, 25 November 2010 in Warsaw by:

Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, Armenia

Association for International Affairs (AMO) the Czech Republic

Belarus Watch, Lithuania

Centre for Social Innovations, Belarus

Eastern Europe Studies Centre, Lithuania

Europe without Barriers, Ukraine

ECAS, Brussels

EUROBELARUS

Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

Institute of Public Affairs, Poland

Institute for Public Affairs Policy, Moldova

Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, Ukraine

Open Society Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria

Östgruppen – Swedish Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, Sweden

Office for a Democratic Belarus, Brussels, Belarus/Belgium

Open Society Institute, Brussels

Open Society Institute, Baku

Public Movement ‘Multinational Georgia’ (PMMG), Georgia

Soros Foundation, Latvia

Slovak Foreign Policy Association, Slovakia

Stefan Batory Foundation, Poland