Summit of the "Eastern Partnership" started in Vilnius

The third summit of the Eastern Partnership Initiative has brought together delegations from 34 countries.

The summit is taking place in Vilnius on 28-29 November.

Invitations to take part in the summit were sent to leaders of the EU member states, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President of France Franois Hollande, as well as EU top officials, heads of state and ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Belarus’ delegation will be led by Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei who will present Belarus’ vision of the Eastern Partnership Initiative and its development prospects at a plenary discussion on 29 November.

A meeting of the EU heads of state will be held during the summit. The representatives of the participating states will discuss the future of the Eastern Partnership Initiative, i.e. cooperation between the European Union and six partner states, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Vilnius hopes that the summit will be a success. The forum will be the most important event of Lithuania’s chairmanship in the Council of Europe. At a press conference dedicated to the 2nd Eastern Partnership Business Forum Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius told reporters that Ukraine is unlikely to sign the association agreement with the EU on 29 November, however it will be able to do it two years later.

On 28 November President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite, President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso will discuss the situation with Ukraine and share their vision of the EaP prospects.

The heads of state of all the EU participating states were invited to attend this trilateral meeting.

The discussion will conclude with a joint dinner of the summiteers. Agreements with the EaP partner states are to be signed on 29 November.

The Eastern Partnership Initiative of the European Union was designed to strengthen cooperation between the European Union and its eastern partners, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The initiative was announced at the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit in May 2009 by 27 EU members and six partner states.