EU to allot extra 150m euros for eastern neighbors
The European Union plans to allocate an additional 150 million euros until 2014 to finance Eastern Partnership, a program that aims to boost the bloc’s cooperation with six former Soviet republics, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.
Sikorski said the statement was made at an Eastern Partnership summit last weekend in Warsaw. He did not specify what the funds will be spent on.
A total of about 2 billion euros will be spent on the implementation of the project. 1.2 billion euros will be provided for bilateral cooperation, while 600 million - for multilateral cooperation of Eastern Partnership states.
The Polish foreign minister said the EU is also ready to increase financing of Eastern Partnership in 2014-2020.
Eastern Partnership covers Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus. The program envisages simplified visa regulations, free trade and closer energy cooperation, but EU membership is not on the agenda for now. The participating countries are required to bring their laws into compliance with EU standards, pursue economic reforms and bolster democratic development.
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