THE ROLE OF POLAND IN THE CREATION PROCESS OF THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

The 2004 Enlargement of the European Union, involving the accession of 10 states, forced the EU to create a special policy with regard to its new neighbours - the European Neighbourhood Policy. This initiative encouraged the neighbours of the integrated Europe to introduce political and economic reforms aimed at strengthening democracy and free market. For four years, the ENP has not yielded the expected results. Its main flaw was the fact that it included two groups of states which are very different in political, social and economic terms - the Mediterranean states and Eastern European states. It was also a mistake that the EU clearly signalled that there is no chance for these states to join the Union. The fiasco of EU policy under the ENP contributed to the intensification of the efforts of Polish politicians to increase the effectiveness of EU's co-operation with its eastern neighbours. With the support of Sweden, Poland managed to create a new EU initiative under EPS - the Eastern Partnership - aimed at Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova. The aim of the Partnership is to deepen the co-operation between the EU and its neighbours, while not rejecting their possible accession in future. However, whether this initiative can be realised will depend on the willingness of all the parties involved to co-operate - both the EU Member States and the neighbouring states.