22 February 2005
U.S., EU Cooperate on Reform in Eurasia
State Dept. fact sheet issued in connection with Bush trip to Europe
The following fact sheet was issued by the State Department’s Bureau of
European and Eurasian Affairs in connection with President Bush’s February
21-24 trip to Europe:
Fact Sheet
U.S. Department of State
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Washington, DC
February 17, 2005
U.S.-EU COOPERATION ON REFORM IN EURASIA
The United States and the European Union (EU) share a common goal of
promoting successful transitions to democracy and market-based economies in
Eurasia. We share a common goal in combating threats to regional stability
and the transition process: crime and corruption; illicit narcotics; weapons
of mass destruction; and trafficking of persons. We coordinate our policy
messages and our assistance programs in order to maximize their impact.
Recent successful examples of U.S.-EU cooperation in promoting
democratization, free media, respect for human rights and key economic
reforms include:
* In Georgia, the U.S. and EU have worked closely together to support a
smooth transition for that country’s new leadership in the wake of the
“Revolution of the Roses.” We continue to work together to support the
aspirations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to further integrate into
the Euro-Atlantic family. The EU’s European Neighborhood Policy and NATO’s
Partnership for Peace promote the values we share in common with Europe, and
build deeper connections between the nations of the South Caucasus and the
more established democracies of the West;
* In Ukraine, we joined forces to promote free and fair local and
presidential elections in 2004, which contributed to the Ukrainian people’s
rejection of electoral fraud and to the historic repeat vote on December 26.
In Belarus, the EU and United States have coordinated at an unprecedented
level, including by conducting a joint diplomatic mission to Minsk in the
Spring of 2004 to send a clear and united message on democratization, and by
enacting travel restrictions on those officials implicated in election
malfeasance and human rights violations. In Moldova, we also coordinated
travel restrictions against the leadership of the Transnistrian separatists,
and are promoting a free and fair campaign and parliamentary election on
March 6;
* The U.S. and EU recognize the challenge to security and stability of the
South Caucasus and Black Sea regions posed by the unresolved conflicts in
the area of Eurasia. We support the territorial integrity of Moldova,
Georgia, and Azerbaijan and cooperate to facilitate international efforts to
achieve peaceful political settlements to the conflicts over Transnistria,
South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Nagorno-Karabakh;
* In Central Asia, the United States and European Union work together to
support democratic and economic transition, protection of human rights,
promoting good governance/rule of law, increased regional trade, and
humanitarian and human development. We also cooperate in the effort to
combat trade in opium and heroin from Afghanistan-a serious threat to peace
and stability and a growing public health concern in the region. The U.S.,
European Commission, and EU member states, working with the United Nations
agencies, closely coordinate our assistance programs to boost Central Asian
states’ capabilities to meet this threat. U.S. and EU assistance efforts
have provided much-needed training, equipment, physical infrastructure, and
more effective government institutions.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )