Hahn: Riga summit final declaration to suit all
By Nigar Orujova
The Eastern Partnership Summit will prepare a declaration that
will suit everyone, Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for
European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, told
media before the official events in Riga.
"I am totally confident that by the end of the day we will have the
declaration that will satisfy everyone," Hahn stressed.
Speaking on whether or not the final version will have reference
to Crimea, he noted that this issue has not been resolved yet.
He also noted that if Ukraine and Georgia fulfill all necessary
conditions and if a relevant report is in a positive light, the
issue of visa-free regime will be settled in the near future.
The Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Latvia, gathered 28 heads of European states with their counterparts from six eastern countries on May 21-22.
Latvia hopes to reach agreements on mobility with a number of
Eastern Partnership countries, Prime Minister of Latvia Laimdota
Straujuma told media.
“Today we will discuss issues regarding mobility, economic and
trade relations,” the prime minister said. She emphasized that the
Eastern Partnership Initiative is not directed against anyone. This
initiative relies on cooperation.
According to the Latvian prime minister, the text of the
declaration of the Riga summit has been coordinated already.
However, she did not specify whether or not the parties coordinated
the initial or modified document.
The Eastern Partnership program is one of two directions of the EU Neighborhood Policy developed in 2004 to create a more solid relationship between the EU and neighboring countries.
The first summit of the Eastern Partnership was held in 2009 in Prague - Czech Republic, the second, in 2011 was held in Warsaw - Poland, and the third summit was held in November 2013 in Vilnius - Lithuania.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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