Radio Free Europe
EU ambassadors have agreed to recognize the European aspirations of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, according to a draft statement of next month’s Eastern Partnership summit seen by RFE/RL.
Ambassadors from the 28 European Union member states agreed on the language of the draft declaration during a meeting in Brussels on October 11.
“Summit participants acknowledge the European aspirations and the European choice of the partners concerned, as stated in the Association Agreements,” the document reads, referring to Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine -- countries in the Easter Partnership that have concluded the agreements with the EU in recent years.
The Eastern Partnership is an EU initiative that governs relations with six former Soviet republics.
It is aimed at creating a mechanism for talks on trade, economic strategy, travel agreements, and other issues between the EU and Eastern European countries.
The draft declaration approved by EU ambassadors on October 11 uses language from the final declaration of the 2015 Eastern Partnership summit in Riga.
The draft text will now be sent to the six Eastern Partnership countries, which also include Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.
The Dutch government had threatened to dilute the strength of the text but agreed to the language after the inclusion of a paragraph that says “the summit participants commend the full entry into force of the Association Agreements and Deep and Comprehensive Free-Trade Areas with Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and most recently with Ukraine following the December 2016 decision by the EU heads of state and government.”
https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-brussels-eastern-partnership-aspiration-declaration-ukraine-georgia-moldova/28787182.html
