Media in the CIS

The Phare and Tacis Democracy Programme was launched by the European Commission in 1992 to help promote democratic societies in the countries of central and eastern Europe, and the New Independent States and Mongolia. It covers the following countries: Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia (countries eligible for Phare) and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan (countries eligible for Tacis). Phare and Tacis are the names of the European Union’s initiatives which support the development of harmonious and the prosperous economic and political links between the European Union and the above partner countries through the provision of grant finance to support the process of transformation to market economies and democratic societies. (fragment)