European Economic
and Social Committee
EESC PLENARY: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya joins EESC debate on eastern border regions
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is calling on the European Union to adopt a long-term, dedicated strategy and to increase funding for its eastern border regions, warning that they face security, economic and demographic pressures that exceed the scope of existing policy tools. A key recommendation from the opinion ECO/697 on the Strategy for eastern border regions, adopted at the EESC's June plenary, is that regions bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine should be treated as strategic frontlines rather than peripheral areas.
The opinion was presented in the framework of a debate on Building resilience in Europe’s eastern border regions on 17 June. Participating in the debate were Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic forces, Neringa Rinkevičiūtė-Laurinaitienė, Vice-Minister for Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, and Hugo Sobral, the European Commission’s Deputy Director-General for Regional and Urban Policy.
Their resilience is Europe’s resilience. We cannot ask these regions to withstand security threats, economic pressure and demographic decline with tools that were not designed for this reality,
said EESC President Séamus Boland during the debate.
Members of the Civil Society Organisations’ Group participated in the debate.
Ionuţ Sibian, co-rapporteur for ECO/697, stressed that Eastern border regions are strategic assets whose resilience underpins EU security, cohesion and long-term prosperity, making support for them a strategic choice for the Union’s future direction.
On safeguarding people's right to stay in their own region, Elena Calistru highlighted that this must be matched with sufficient resources, stating that the level of ambition in the current EU long-term budget is not there
.
Civil society organisations and community networks are often the first to respond in times of crisis’ and should be seen as a strategic resilience partner,
said Mall Hellam.
The border regions are the heartbeat of Europe because we know the value and price of freedom,
said Andris Gobiņš, adding that we need to do more in investing in the right to stay and much more on Belarus.
Focusing on rural eastern border regions, Simo Tiainen emphasised that a vibrant rural economy is an important part of our security
and should be taken into account when designing measures to strengthen security and resilience in these regions
.
The EU eastern border is not only a geographical limit,
echoed Baiba Miltoviča, but a critical front line for regional survival and the democratic values of the EU.
On youth participation, Katrina Leitāne stated that the time has come to transform young people from passive recipients of security policies into active pillars of societal resilience.