EU New Neighboring Policy- Is Georgia In?

On the 6-th day of July 2005, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation together with the United Nations Association of Georgia organized a seminar for mass media representatives and press centers in the public sector. The theme of European Union and Georgia: New Neighborhood Policy was certainly pertinent to the transformations now occurring in the country. Consequently, it attracted more than 40 journalists and press center representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Chancellery, State Minister’s Office on Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Parliament. 

The EU expert Friedrich Roll informed the seminar participants on the basic issues of EU Policy regarding its current objectives and priorities, although he failed to mention Georgia among EU priority countries. Now, the time of Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey has come. The latter has been waiting for the membership opportunity since the year 1967.

Of late, the term ENP (European Neighborhood Policy) has become extremely popular. ENP is a new policy that invites countries from East and South to share the peace, stability, and prosperity that member countries enjoy in the European Union, and aims to create a ring of friends around the borders of the newly enlarged EU. The European Neighborhood Policy is at an early stage, and will be progressively developed with the combined effort of the EU and its partners.

At the seminar, the role of mass media in Euro extension and development was also mentioned. Mr. Florean Oel, a German journalist, stressed the importance of mass media in EU extension. He proclaimed that it is necessary to build a transnational mass media and political society, who will attempt to reinvigorate communications of citizens on political and social issues. “If there is a European political society and the feeling of commonwealth, which means that the citizens of Europe would be engaged in European discourses, it would significantly increase their accountability and receptiveness towards the EU. As for the candidate states, the mentioned development of civil involvement and discourse would catalyze their integration into Europe” -said Mr.Oel.

Mr. Oel also voiced his concern about passive reporting by journalists on EU issues. The reporting is based on the perspectives of separate countries and not on EU common vision.

The seminar clearly accomplished its goal rooted in the theme of inclusion, as it allowed the participants to acquire the necessary skills of accurate reporting on EU issues while also allowing participants to articulate their concerns in front of European guests concerning the current situation in the mass media.

Mr. David Paichadze, Deputy Dean of Social and Political Sciences Department of  Tbilisi State University, and Mr. Badri Koplatadze, Teacher at Caucasus School of  Journalism and Media Management, made brief presentations on the shortcomings and advantages of the mass media in the present. Although no radical, statements have been made on behalf of the media what was said at yesterday’s seminar suggest that greater emphases ought to be placed on media education.

The final suggestion of seminar facilitators was that the Georgian mass media and Non-governmental organizations who shape the political landscape should become more aware of EU priorities and facilitate directing  the citizens’ attention  and thinking in that direction.