Poland to host Eastern Partnership summit instead of Hungary

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Eastern Partnership summit will be held in Poland later this year, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on February 17.

The decision was taken as a result of an agreement reached by Poland, Hungary and the European Council, Sikorski said.

"It will be the most important event of Poland's EU presidency," Sikorski was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency.

"We are very glad that in agreement with Hungary, the Polish prime minister made such decision," Sikorski said, recalling that the Eastern partnership was "a Polish-Swedish project accepted by the entire EU."

The summit, which was once planned for May 27 in Budapest, will be held in September or October. European Minister Mikolaj Dowgielewicz said a concrete date of the summit would be announced later, news.xinhuanet.com reported.

The Eastern Partnership, inaugurated in 2009, is designed to consolidate cooperation of the EU with its eastern neighbors, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It does not envisage EU membership for the six countries but plans their gradual and far-reaching integration with the EU.

The summit, co-hosted by Polish and Hungarian prime ministers, will be attended by heads of state and government of the 27 EU countries and Eastern Partnership members.