"Europe in a Suitcase 2015"

“Europe in a Suitcase” was an international event, which took place in Georgia from 2-5 November. The participant countries included: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia and Ukraine. All the participants represented various thinks tanks and non-governmental organizations whose field of expertise combined political and economic analysis. The project took place in five Georgian cities: Tbilisi, Marneuli, Gori, Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi. While visiting these places the team met with local representatives of civic society and had the opportunity to visit various historical sites. According to the schedule, each young expert prepared a presentation about the economic aspects of Euro-Atlantic integration of Eastern Partnership countries, which was later followed with discussion involving other participants and members of civic society. 

First day, Tbilisi

On the first day, the participants held a meeting in Betsy’s Hotel in Tbilisi. After the introductory speech, by the resident representative of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation South Caucasus, Peter-Andreas Bochmann, Anton Boltochko, an economic expert from Belarus conducted the first presentation. In his analysis, Mr Boltochko stated the reasons why Belarus joined the Eurasian Union and made parallels between the situation in Belarus and other countries of eastern partnership. According to him, long-term dependency on one country and the absence of diversification, in addition to cheap goods from one country, has led Belarus to become dependent on Russia, therefore joining the Eurasian union was the only way. After his presentation, the other participants and members of civic society expressed their own opinions about this subject. 

Second day, Marneuli

Marneuli is the city near the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan. The city is mostly populated by Azerbaijani ethnic minorities and serves as a communication and transport hub between Azerbaijan and Georgia. Valentin Tonchev, the Bulgarian representative, spoke about the European standards and association agreement Georgia signed with EU. He stated that fulfilling the regulations of the agreement was the way by which Georgia could accelerate its EU integration because the agreement already contained 80% of the standards that were needed for EU membership. He also drew parallels between Bulgaria and Georgia. In his opinion, Bulgaria has benefited from these reforms despite the concessions they had to make to the EU leadership. After his speech the representative of Azerbaijan, Yagana Hajiyeva, spoke about her country’s economic relationship with the EU and its future prospects. Locals, most of whom were ethnic Azerbaijanis, asked lot of questions about how they could control the reform process and what benefits they could expect, especially those which would change their daily lives if Georgia joined EU. 


Second day, Gori

After the discussion in Marneuli was over, participants went to city of Gori. Here they took a guided tour of the Stalin Museum. After the tour, the Georgian participant Sandro Sarukhanishvili spoke with the local audience about the future of the Georgian-Russian relationship. He analysed the current political climate between these countries and spoke about the fundamental differences which exists between countries. 

Third day, Akhaltsikhe

The city of Akhaltsikhe is filled with various archaeological and historical sites. One of the most famous places is the Rabati Complex, which includes an historic castle renovated in 2012 and now consists of a citadel, museum and a hotel. The region is also home of the one of the largest catholic communities in Georgia. Akhaltsike can be considered as the centre of tolerance in Southern Georgia, since Orthodox, Catholic, Islamic and Armenian places of worship stand next to each other. 
After the tour, our Armenian participant, Karem Tomvasyan, spoke about the current political and economic situation in Armenia. In his presentation, he emphasized that Armenia is in an economic blockade from east and west, that Russia is the strategic partner which guarantees the country’s safety and emphasized that the Armenian dependency on Georgia as a transit country for its natural gas and other goods. According to Mr Tomvasyan, Armenia’s choice to join Eurasian Union is based not on willingness but on necessity, as they are also economically and politically dependent on Russian goods. He stated that all future EU economic projects in Armenia should be compatible with the agreement they signed with Eurasian Economic Union. 

Fourth day, Kutaisi

The city of Kutaisi is the second largest city in Georgia in terms of size and population. Today Kutaisi’s role in Georgian modern politics has grown considerably since it was decided to move Parliament from Tbilisi to there. The parliamentary complex consists of several buildings, which is covered by glass roof and walls. Within the guided tour participants visited the assembly hall where the MP’s vote, the bureau room, committee rooms and media centre. It was explained in detail how Georgian parliament works and how parliamentary protocols are being implemented. 

After the tour, the representative from Ukraine, Kateryna Markevych, spoke about Ukraine’s future prospects for EU integration and the current economic and political situation. Ms Markevych stressed the importance of reforms and political will. In her opinion, the reforms are the key to fight corruption and economic stagnation, but reforms cannot be implemented if there is no political willingness. She spoke about the difficulties Ukraine has faced after Crimean Annexation and Donbass war and underlined several reforms which are necessary for rebuilding economy and democratic institutions. 

After the discussion ended, the team of experts and the project staff returned to Tbilisi. The next day, the participants left for their respective countries.

Conclusion

The project was a great success since all the project goals were accomplished. The participation of local population in the discussion was on high level and participants themselves received lot of information about the issues in Georgia and eastern Partnership countries.

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