Riga Summit to affirm importance of EU's ties with Eastern neighbors: diplomat

The upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga is significant as it affirms the importance of the European Union's ties with its Eastern neighbours, Juris Poikans, Latvia's Ambassador-at-Large for the Eastern Partnership, said on Thursday.

Latvia, the current EU presidency, is due to host the bloc's 4th Eastern Partnership Summit in its capital city Riga on May 21-22.

It is expected that the 28 EU member states and six Eastern Partnership countries will be represented by their heads of state and government at the summit, which will be chaired by European Council President Donald Tusk.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn are also expected to be present.

Noting that significant changes have taken place in the European continent since the previous Eastern Partnership Summit held in 2013 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Poikans told journalists that the summit is essential as it provides the opportunity to "send a signal to the six Eastern Partnership countries that the EU is interested in a further development of relations with these six countries."

A declaration set to be passed at the summit is expected to define the development of relations between the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries for the next two years.

"We will also be looking back at what has been achieved since the Vilnius Summit," the Latvian diplomat said.

The EU reportedly also intends to come up with individual proposals for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. Poikans noted "certain progress" in the EU's relations with Belarus, saying an agreement on easing the visa regime with Belarus might be initiated around the time of the summit. Endit