Apart from the foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group and the six Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, the meeting was attended by Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor-Viorel Meleşcanu, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, and EEAS Secretary General Helga Schmid. The meeting discussed the most important cooperation issues between the Visegrad Group (V4) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries ahead of a ministerial meeting to mark the EaP’s 10th anniversary, scheduled for 13 May in Brussels. Major topics included the EaP’s future beyond 2020, as well as security, economic cooperation, including the significant increase in trade over the 10 years of the EaP’s existence, and the development of infrastructure connectivity.

The head of the Polish MFA proposed to base the Eastern Partnership’s future architecture on three elements: deeper legal integration, strengthening sectoral cooperation in areas of importance to all partners — such as energy security, economic cooperation, cooperation in building the digital single market, the abolition of roaming charges, and the construction of road and rail infrastructure networks — and political and institutional integration. “I put forward an idea to institutionalise the Eastern Partnership by creating its secretariat and presidency,” added the Polish foreign minister.

Minister Jacek Czaputowicz also suggested to the partner countries to establish a free trade area modelled after CEFTA, which was established by the V4 and is currently used in the Western Balkans. “Joint action will prove that these countries are ready for deeper and stronger cooperation with the EU,” he added, while noting that the EaP countries should also search for forms of cooperation themselves in order to communicate more effectively with the European Union. 

During today’s discussions, the minister also noted that security and stability are prerequisites for the development of both Central Europe and Eastern Partnership regions and that the Partnership is a useful platform for discussing security issues. 

“We agreed that there is a need for better absorption of investment funds in the Eastern Partnership countries. Cooperation within the Visegrad Group is a good example of developing a climate conducive to investment,” Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said in Bratislava.

The Polish foreign minister furthermore pointed out that the European Neighbourhood Policy, including its southern and eastern dimensions, should be appropriately reflected in the new financial architecture. Poland supports the continuation of the European Neighbourhood Instrument as a separate tool in the new Multiannual Financial Framework.

The Visegrad Group ministers adopted a joint declaration in which they stressed the importance of the Eastern Partnership policy and expressed their conviction of the need to develop and strengthen it in the future.

MFA Press Office

 

Photo Sebastian Indra / MFA