ArmInfo. Increased funding for the Eastern Partnership countries, recognition that not all countries are equally interested in rapprochement with the EU, as well as a proposal to cancel roaming: these are the recommendations of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Discussion of recommendations for the June EU summit with the heads of countries and governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine took place on Tuesday, Gazeta Prawna writes. At the initiative of Polish European MPs, the meeting's report included the recommendation to cancel roaming charges for using cell phones in the Eastern Partnership countries, as well as between the EU and these countries. "Today and after 2020, the European Commission must take decisive action with respect to the Eastern Partnership countries as never before, because the geopolitical future of the region, as well as the stability of the EU, are threatened," MPs Radoslaw Sikorski and Michael Gahler made a joint statement. The Committee on Foreign Affairs believes that the Eastern Partnership summit next month should bring a clear long-term strategy for engaging and developing cooperation between the EU and its Eastern neighbors. European parliamentarians want EU governments to prepare a clear and ambitious cooperation plan that will provide concrete assistance to Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. At the same time, they believe that the EU should demonstrate greater involvement and offer more to countries that are reforming in the direction of European standards. At the same time, the lawmakers say that the strengthening of financial support should be related to the criteria for reform.
"The most ambitious countries that have signed an association agreement and are implementing an in-depth and comprehensive free trade agreement - Georgia and Ukraine - should know that the next successes and implemented reforms open up new prospects for them, new sectors of cooperation," said the MP from ''Law and Justice "Anna Fotyga. "We understand that some EaP countries have chosen different goals. The goal of the EU policy remains unchanged: to deepen our relations within the framework of international law and basic values, as well as to strengthen stability and prosperity in the entire region," Radoslaw Sikorski added. The June Eastern Partnership Summit will review the results achieved since the previous summit in 2017. In addition, leaders must approve long- term political goals, determine the direction for further strengthening cooperation, and approve the mandate for preparatory work on the next series of goals for the period after 2020.