EU can allocate 600 million euro for Eastern Partnership implementationFebruary 23, 2009 - 18:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Officials in Brussels on Monday urged European Union governments to back their plans for a 600-million-euro (756-million-dollar) plan designed to boost ties with their former-Soviet neighbors, EarthTimes reports.Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external affairs commissioner, said the bloc's the Eastern Partnership had become even more necessary in the wake of the August conflict between Georgia and Russia and January's gas standoff between Russia and Ukraine. "The Eastern Partnership is a very timely initiative that needs to be implemented," Ferrero-Waldner said on the margins of talks in Brussels between EU foreign ministers, since problems in Eastern Europe "affect us directly." In early December, the European Commission unveiled plans to spend an additional 350 million euros - on top of the 250 million already allocated - to help promote stability and prosperity in Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova. Noting that the commission currently spends about two-thirds of its regional cooperation money on the EU's southern neighbours, Ferrero-Waldner said she hoped member states would endorse the commission's eastern proposal at a summit on March 19-20. But some member states in southern Europe fear that a major increase of funding to the EU's eastern neighbours would shift its strategic focus away from North Africa and the Middle East, diplomatic sources said. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Ucom Celebrates Telecommunication Day May 17 commemorates the founding of the International Telecommunication Union on May 17, 1865. Armenian, Azerbaijani heads of parliament meet in Switzerland President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Border residents overnight on highway to protest Armenia’s Residents of Kirants continue to express outrage over the government’s decision to cede land to Azerbaijan. Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. |