New Tasks for the Eastern Partnership Will Be Adopted in 2021

A full Eastern Partnership summit will be held only in 2021. In the meantime, the leaders of the EU and six post-Soviet countries will meet on June 18 virtually. A new package of tasks for countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program of the European Union, aimed at expanding EU ties with Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia, will be approved in 2021 at a summit of the leaders of 27 EU states and these six post-Soviet countries republics. This was reconciled by the foreign ministers of 33 countries (27+6) during a video conference on Thursday, June 11, the press service of the Council of the EU said. The heads of state and government of 33 countries will hold a video conference on June 18 to discuss the general priorities of the Eastern Partnership for the period from 2021. It was previously planned that an in-person meeting would take place on that day, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was replaced by a virtual one. EU Priorities for Eastern Partnership “Today we have delivered a clear message to our Eastern partners: even in difficult times, you can count on us, we support you. At the same time, we have to look jointly to the future and reflect on how to best shape our relationship,” EU High Representative on Foreign and Security Policy Joseph Borrell said following a meeting of foreign ministers. In turn, the European Commissioner for Neighborhood Oliver Varhelyi noted that each state of the Eastern Partnership has the opportunity to work more closely with the European Union if it is interested in this. “Our political priorities are unchanged - we want reforms to be implemented,” ​​Varhelyi added. According to him, the EU’s priorities in the Eastern Partnership are infrastructure, the European Green Deal and the digital sphere.