Merkel on the role of Russia in relations with the countries of the Eastern "Partnership"
Brussels/24.11.17/Turan: The European Union realizes that Russia occupies a central place for the countries of the "Eastern Partnership". This was announced today at the opening ceremony of the Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. At the same time, she noted the greater importance of the "Eastern Partnership" program for the EU itself. "On the one hand, it's about improving people's lives and developing democracy, and on the other, it's about the issue of security. I am glad that we signed the Association Agreement with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Now we will sign the Partnership Agreement with Armenia and Azerbaijan, although not as active as the association agreement," Merkel said. She further added that the relations of the Eastern Partnership countries with Russia play a central role for them. "Therefore, I hope that today we will understand what the internal political situation in these countries is," she said. As expected, at the conclusion of the summit an agreement between Armenia and the European Union on an expanded partnership should be signed. A similar agreement with Azerbaijan has not yet been signed.
* The Eastern Partnership is a project of the European Union aimed at developing the European Union's integration ties with six countries of the former USSR: Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Belarus.
The idea of the project was presented by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski with the participation of Sweden at the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council on May 26, 2008.
The main priorities of reforms in the partner countries are the following areas:
* democracy, improvement of the governance system and ensuring stability;
* economic integration and convergence with the EU's sectoral economic policies, including the creation of free trade zones;
* energy security;
* development of contacts between people (liberalization of the visa regime and strengthening of the fight against illegal migration).
The new initiative also envisages the conclusion in the future of bilateral agreements between the EU and partner countries on the association, which should serve as an important step towards their further integration into the European socio-economic and political space.--0--
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