Country updates
One of the priorities of the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity is to analyse and inform its partners and its political sister parties on the political developments in the countries of Central, Eastern, South Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The European Forum has created an information service, which includes Country Updates and the bi-monthly Newsflash. Whereas the earlier updates used to provide more general information about a country, in the new structure emphasis is mainly being put on the political landscape.
In 2004 all Country Updates have been updated and the project managers are revising them according to political developments in the specific countries. In 2005 Country Updates on Turkey and Morocco have been added to the list. Country Updates on Egypt and Jordan have been completed in 2006 and the next one is on Lebanon.
New Member States
The European Forum has ceased updating the Country Updates on the New Member States in January 2005.
Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)
Since the enlargement of the EU in 2004, new challenges have been created in relation to EU’s neighbours. The accession of the new member states strengthened the Union’s interest in enhancing relations with the new neighbours. In May 2004 the EU released a strategy paper on neighbourhood policy and stated the necessity to create a "ring of friends" surrounding the Union and its closest European neighbours, referring to Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Southern Mediterranean countries. Following these developments, the European Forum decided to widen its scope and a start has been made to produce Country Updates on Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
Working method
Upon finishing a Country Update, it is evaluated by the contact persons in the countries in question, and only then the European Forum publishes it on the website. Apart from the website, the European Forum also sends a word file with the updates to the recipients of the Newsflash – a mailing list of hundreds of people at strategic posts in social democratic parties and institutes in Europe.
Country list
Albania
Azerbaijan 
Belarus
Bosnia Herzegovina
Croatia
Egypt
FYR Macedonia
Georgia
Israel
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Libya
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Palestinian Territories
Russia
Syrian Arab Republic
Tajikistan
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Algeria
Mon 21 May 2012
As a response to the regional unrest the Algerian authorities promised to make the 2012 parliamentary elections a next step on the road towards real democracy. But while officials have billed the elections as 'an Algerian spring' they were mainly marked by a low turnout.
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Armenia
Mon 14 May 2012
Latest elections were held on 6 May 2012, in these parliamentary elections the governing parties remained strong, while the opposition cried foul.Read full update
Serbia
Fri 11 May 2012
On 7 May 2012 parliamentary elections and the first round for the presidential elections took place in Serbia. The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won with 24.04 percent of the votes resulting in 73 seats in parliament and the Democratic Party (DS) that until these elections formed the biggest party in the governing coalition came second with 22.3 % of the votes. By almost doubling their seats...
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Egyptians vote in historic elections
Thu 24 May 2012LGBT rights under pressure
Wed 23 May 2012Video: Russian opposition leaders declared ‘prisoners of conscience’ by Amnesty
Tue 22 May 2012 source: YouTube