The EU is moving toward more flexible US-type methods for funding pro-democracy movements abroad, with previous European Commission efforts frustrated by bureaucracy.
The trend, visible in two initiatives to shake-up pro-democracy spending in the 2007-2013 budget, stems from a new culture brought to Brussels by eastern European member states, EU and US diplomats say.
"They [non-democratic states] need the same kind of help we got from the west during the Cold War," a senior Czech...
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Already a member? Login hereAndrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.