ArmInfo.The first day of the conference, dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the EU Eastern Partnership program, was not without incident.
According to Radio Liberty from Brussels, at the end of the summit, a solemn declaration was signed, but the countries participating in the summit decided not to give the document a higher status. As a result, representatives of the Eastern Partnership countries did not sign it, and only the signature of Federica Mogherini, head of EU diplomacy, appeared under the text.
The decision was made because of the refusal to include in the text the issue of territorial integrity raised by Azerbaijan. We are talking about Nagorno-Karabakh, which since the beginning of the 1990s has been controlled by the government of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which is supported by Armenia.
It is reported that Ukraine and Georgia complained about the lack of reference to the aspirations for European integration of individual members of the Eastern Partnership. They responded to the demands of Kiev and Tbilisi by including in the document references to previous declarations where this aspiration is referred to.
On May 13-14, the anniversary summit of the European Union's Eastern Partnership was held in Brussels. The program was initiated in 2009. The aim of the Eastern Partnership is to create a framework for EU cooperation and integration with the countries of Eastern Europe. The program members include Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
In connection with the summit, leaders of all partnership countries arrived in Brussels, except for the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. The country at the meeting is represented by Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei. "The time will come, and the president will come. As long as there are some restrictions in our relations. I honestly want to say that as long as we don't see that as part of even today's events we would get some one hundred percent return from such a visit," commented the absence Lukashenko Foreign Minister of Belarus.