BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 9
Trend:
The International Visegrad Fund (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) will allocate up to 250,000 euro to support practical strengthening of the health, social, economic resilience of vulnerable groups of citizens in the Eastern Partnership countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia) affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemics, Trend reports with reference to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
The decision was announced via a videoconference regarding V4 and Eastern Partnership held on April 8, 2020. The main topic was the future of the Eastern Partnership ahead of the planned June summit that is expected to approve a new vision for the EU Neighbourhood Policy.
The ministers adopted a joint statement confirming their vision of the Eastern Partnership as a strong and ambitious policy and declaring their readiness to actively support it.
The ministers agreed on their support for the aspirations of the partner countries interested in integration to the EU and its single market.
Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček proposed to launch an extraordinary V4EastSolidarity Program to assist the Eastern Partnership countries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The new V4EastSolidarity Program should provide up to 250,000 euro under the International Visegrad Fund and will be dedicated to the practical strengthening of the health, social, economic resilience of vulnerable groups of citizens in the Eastern Partnership countries affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will be tailored to the needs of the partners,” the ministry said.
The ministers supported the proposal. Petříček noted that the Eastern Partnership is of strategic importance to the EU and therefore one of the priority topics in the context of the EU's external relations.