Berlin, April 22, 2014: Whilst EU financial aid for civil society in the countries of the Southern and Eastern Partnership has continually risen over the past years, funding and administrative capacities for Russia have been dramatically reduced. In spite of protests from non-governmental organisations and calls from the European Parliament, the European Commission is continuing to pursue this policy, as can be seen in the new EU budget up to 2020. The EU is therefore weakening one of the few instruments at its disposal for supporting those institutions and individuals in the Russian Federation who strive for the democratic transformation of the country, for human rights and for European unity.

Read the analysis by Stefanie Schiffer, European Exchange and Thomas Vogel, assistant to Werner Schulz, MEP here