Speaking at the plenary session, the President stressed that this meeting between the EU and Eastern partners, which was taking place after a four-year break, was a great opportunity for the EU to demonstrate its political resolve and ambition in the region and to set clear European integration prospects for its partners in the East.
Gitanas Nausėda called on the EU to continue adhering to the ‘more for more’ principle. “The EU has a responsibility to support Eastern Partnership countries on the path to reform. We would especially like to see a breakthrough in the implementation of reforms in the areas of justice, human rights and the fight against corruption. We must offer the Eastern Partnership countries, which are making significant progress in the implementation of reforms, more opportunities for integration into the EU and, finally, meet their European aspirations,” the President said.
According to Gitanas Nausėda, since the launch of the Eastern Partnership initiative in 2009, as many as three countries have become associated partners of the EU. The President stressed that the agreements signed between the Associated Trio – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia – and the EU had encouraged reforms and democratic transformation in these countries and that it was therefore necessary to continue to support them by providing all possible assistance. The Eastern Partnership policy must remain a strategic and geopolitical priority for the EU.
At the Summit, the leaders of the EU and Eastern Partnership countries adopted a declaration outlining principles for joint action and plans for the future.
