Eastern Partnership will enable Armenia to establish closer ties with Europe

PanARMENIAN.Net - With this initiative, EU Eastern Partnership seeks stable and reliable neighborhood with six countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, RA Deputy Foreign Minister Karine Kazinyan told a news conference today. "By proposing such initiative EU seeks to establish partnership with neighbor states. It's one more step towards EU membership," she stressed, noting at the same time that Eastern Partnership member states should realize that partnership does not imply membership to EU. "Associate membership agreement will be signed only with countries showing maximum progress towards initiative implementation," Karine Kazinyan said.



According to her, Eastern Partnership envisages cooperation not only in bilateral, but also in multilateral format. "The initiative aims to establish cooperation among member states, despite the existing conflicts. The countries are offered cooperation and partnership," Mrs. Kazinyan said, adding that Armenia views the initiative as cooperation aimed at establishing closer ties with Europe. She didn't rule out the possibility of non-member states' integration to the project. "Before 2013, EU will allocate about 600 million Euros. Eastern Partnership summits will be held once or twice a year and member states' Foreign Ministers will meet once per year," she reported.



Eastern Partnership is due for May 7 in Prague. Armenia will be represented in person of President Serzh Sargsyan
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