Poland to host summit of EU-Eastern Partnership counties

The summit of the European Union and Eastern Partnership Program member-countries will be held in Poland  this autumn, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said at a press briefing today. Earlier, the summit was expected to take place in Hungary in May, ITAR-TASS reported.

Sikorsky said the relevant agreement was reached between Warsaw and Budapest. "This will be the main event of the Polish presidency in the EU (from 1 July 2011 ),” he noted.

It is not clear yet at what level 27 EU members and 5 member-countries of the Eastern Partnership will be presented at the forum. The summit will be chaired by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy.

Hungary refused to hold a summit in May, as its value may be underestimated on the background f the G-20 summit in France Deauville and 50th anniversary of the OECD.

The Eastern Partnership is aimed at the political and economic rapprochement of 6  post-Soviet states - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus - and the EU. The program does not provide opportunities for EU membership, but involves facilitating the visa regime, energy cooperation and the introduction of free trade zones.


/Trend/