The EU and Eastward Enlargement

The EU is getting ready to initial Association and Free Trade Agreements with the Republic of Moldova and Georgia

România Internațional, 19.11.2013, 13:05

At the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, EU foreign ministers looked into the stage of the preparations for the Eastern Partnership Summit scheduled in Vilnius over November 28-29th. At the Vilnius Summit, the European Union wants to sign comprehensive association and free trade agreements with the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, two of the six Eastern Partnership members that have met the criteria. As for Ukraine, the EU foreign ministers said that the time left until the Vilnius Summit was very short and Kiev should give a sign that it accepted the conditions imposed on it, namely then reform of the justice system and the election system and renunciation of the so-called selective judiciary.

Attending the Brussels meeting, Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean said that the signing of the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement with the EU at the Vilnius Summit was vital to the European future of the Republic of Moldova. The signing will also be a success for the Romanian diplomacy, which has consistently supported the pro-European orientation of Chisinau, in the name of Romania and Moldova’s common language, culture and history.

The Romanian Foreign Minister underscored that the European message to partner states must be substantial and ambitious. Bucharest backs the signing of the agreements with Georgia and as regards Ukraine, it has supported the conclusion of the accords, provided Kiev meets the association criteria.

The State Secretary at the Romanian Foreign Ministry, Bogdan Aurescu said the other day that Romania’s expectations from the Vilnius Summit were related to the continuation of the process of political association and economic integration of the Eastern Partnership states. Aurescu said that for Romania, the main stake of the Summit continued to be the Republic of Moldova. Romania wants a political declaration to be adopted which should provide a vision, a clear perspective of the Eastern Partnership.

The Eastern Partnership is an association agreement the EU concluded with six ex-Soviet Republics: Armenia, Azerbaidjan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus in Prague in May 2009. The initiative aims to consolidate the economic and political relations between the EU and those countries. The Eastern Partnership aims at the political stabilization of those states through the implementation of energy security projects, a better border management, the development of civil society and the improvement of human rights.