EU’s Eastern neighbours urge faster integration

The heads of governments of the three Eastern Partnership countries at the front of the queue for EU membership are jointly urging a speeding up of the integration process.

The visits of officials from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine precedes the regular EU-Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit scheduled for 15 December 2021 where representatives these countries, plus Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet counterparts at EU institutions.

These five countries – as well as the currently suspended Belarus – have signed association agreements to deepen economic and political ties with the EU as members of the EaP. The leaders of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine underlined that their call for accession talks is in no way an attempt to replace existing EU-Eastern Partnership structures. The EU’s stance is that for “more EU, the aspirant countries must step up efforts against corruption, ahead of an expected EUR 2.3 billion EU investment package in the region.

Source: Euractiv, EEAS PR