Mogherini Called Eastern Partnership Countries for Moving Forward

The countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program must move forward and keep pressing ahead, said EUHigh Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini on Tuesday in Luxembourg at the meeting of foreign ministers of 28 EU member states and six Eastern partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine ), reports infotag.md. The summit assesses the progress made in the framework of the planned 20 Deliverables for 2020. “The Eastern Partnership is a key component of our foreign policy. Our Ministerial meeting today has been an important moment to review not only the different bilateral relations we have, but also the common work are doing within the Eastern Partnership framework. We are delivering not only economic benefits, such as increased trade volumes between all six partner countries and the European Union, but also strengthening democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms. We need to keep pressing ahead with implementation if we are to continue to see good results”, said Mogherini. Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn noted the achievements in the framework of the Eastern Partnership’s 20 Deliverables for 2020. “Six Eastern Partners and the EU have taken concrete steps towards making our societies stronger, the region’s economies more resilient and better connected through improved transport links and infrastructure. Looking ahead, we will continue to work together for concrete results, in particular in the areas of judicial reform and ensuring an enabling environment for civil society and independent media”, said Hahn. Key achievements over the last year of the EU’s cooperation with the six countries include the launch of the Eastern Partnership European School;the strengthened support to small and medium sized enterprises and an increase in trade between the partner countries and the EU;the finalisation of an indicative TEN-T investment action plan which foresees 5,500 kilometres of road and rail projects by 2020. The ministerial meeting also provided the opportunity to exchange views and prepare for the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership, which will be marked with a series of events throughout 2019. Source: Point.md