The ‘Eastern Partnership’ is one of the key areas of Austria’s parliamentary cooperation. The Austrian Parliament is particularly active in its exchanges with the Parliaments of Moldova and Ukraine.
Since Ukraine gained official candidate status in June 2022, the Austrian Parliament has been actively involved in capacity-building projects with the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The Parliament plays a key role in the process of rapprochement with the EU.
As part of the RADA programme of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), two study visits of the Verkhovna Rada took place in Vienna in 2023. The first visit focused on establishing a Research Service and EU integration. During the second visit, the delegation looked at the Youth Parliamentas well as other democracy-building initiatives such as the Democracy Workshops.
In addition, three-day work placements were offered to experts from the Research Service of the Ukrainian Parliament. Following the withdrawal of USAID funding in January 2025, some of the cooperation activities were continued within the framework of other projects.
INTER PARES is an EU project aimed at strengthening parliaments in third countries. Since spring 2024, the Austrian Parliament, together with 15 other parliaments from EU Member States, has been participating in a partnership with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Austria supports the establishment of a budget service and the strengthening of research and analytical capacities. It also participates in activities relating to EU integration, oversight mechanisms, and the strengthening of parliamentary administration.
Following Moldova’s being granted EU candidate status, the Austrian Parliament has been carrying out various capacity-building cooperation initiatives with the Moldovan Parliamentary Administration.
To support the Republic of Moldova and its Parliament on the path to EU membership, the Austrian Parliament is currently participating in a consortium led by the Greek Parliament together with the Parliaments of Italy (Chamber of Deputies), Romania (both Chambers) and Hungary in the project "Strengthening the Capacities of the Moldovan Parliament and its Role in the EU Accession Process".
Key areas of the project:
The 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Austria and the Republic of Moldova (1992–2022) provided an opportunity to deepen the exchange at a bilateral level. Focus was on dialogue centred on the topic of ‘gender budgeting’ along with its significance and role in the budgetary process.
In October 2022, UN Women and the Austrian Embassy in Chișinău, in collaboration with the Moldovan Parliament, organised a two-day seminar on this topic for Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff.
The exchange continued as part of two delegation visits by the Moldovan Parliament. While the first study visit focused on the digitalisation of the legislative process, the management of a Parliament building, EU integration and the EU database, the second visit took place primarily with Members of the Budget Committee and the Budget Office in Vienna.
In spring 2022, Armenian Parliamentarians, the President of the Armenian Chamber of Auditors, and the Secretary-General of the National Assembly visited the Austrian Parliament. The Armenian delegation gained insight into the mechanisms of budget preparation and control. This cooperation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia took place within the framework of the ‘Modern Parliament for Modern Armenia’ project, as part of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).