Baku, Azerbaijan, June 20
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
The EU reaffirms its strong commitment to cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries, Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said at Eastern Partnership (EaP) ministerial meeting in Luxembourg June 19, the European Council said in a message.
The meeting brought together EU foreign ministers and their counterparts from the six Eastern Partnership countries to work on the preparations of the EaP summit to be held in November 2017 in Brussels.
"Today, we have reaffirmed the strong commitment of the EU and the Eastern Partners to our close cooperation. Our summit in November will show our unity and focus on concrete deliverables," Mogherini said.
The ministers confirmed that the upcoming summit should provide further guidance for strengthening cooperation in the four priority areas of engagement agreed at the last summit in Riga in 2015: a stronger governance; a stronger society; a stronger economy; and a stronger connectivity.
High Representative Federica Mogherini and Commissioner Johannes Hahn presented the ministers with a working document, jointly prepared by the European External Action Service and the European Commission: "Eastern Partnership - Focusing on key priorities and deliverables".
The document identifying 20 deliverables for 2020 in the four areas was first presented in December 2016 and revised this month based on contributions from EU Member States and EaP Partner countries. It lays out, in concrete terms, tangible results expected of the cooperation and should work as a common work plan, for the summit, and for 2020.
A new visual identity for the partnership, to highlight this more structured approach around the 4 priority areas and 20 deliverables, will be launched, this week on 22-23 June, at the 3rd EaP Youth Forum in Warsaw.
The Eastern Partnership initiative was launched in 2009 with the main focus on regional cooperation in the EU's eastern neighbourhood. It sets out to promote political association and economic integration with the EU among six EaP countries:, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Armenia.
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