Roundup: Eastern Partnership Summit ends on upbeat note

The EU's Eastern Partnership Summit ended in the Latvian capital on an upbeat note on Friday, promising visa liberalization for Georgia and Ukraine in the near future.

At the end of the two-day summit, the heads of state and government representing the 28 EU member states and six Eastern Partnership countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - adopted a joint declaration calling for ever closer cooperation between the EU and its Eastern neighbors.

While hosting an informal dinner for the heads of the delegations on Thursday, the first day of the summit, Latvian President Andris Berzins indicated that although all partnership countries belonged to the EU's Eastern Neighborhood social differences and development paths chosen by each individual state had to be taken into account when working out the partnership program.

"We cannot make mistakes, as partnership is a two-way process, which should be based on mutual understanding and respect. Our cooperation must be primarily built on mutually beneficial conditions," the Latvian president said.

Indeed, the interests and ambitions of the six Partnership countries differed at the summit, with countries like Georgia and Ukraine seeking closer integration and faster visa liberalization with the EU, and Belarus and Armenia showing a more reserved attitude as they associate themselves primarily with the Customs Union.

Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, told the press ahead of the Riga Summit that its participants would draw up a "declaration that will satisfy everyone."

Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma noted a new level of cooperation between the EU and its Eastern Neighbors, praising the cooperation progress achieved since the previous Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in 2013.

Association agreements with three partner states - Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - have been signed and are being applied on a provisional basis. As a result, Georgia's export to the EU has grown by 12 percent and Moldova's by 20 percent, the Latvian premier said.

Praising the successful abolition of the visa regime with Moldova, Straujuma noted that Georgia and Ukraine had also been actively working to meet the EU's requirements for visa facilitation.

A number of EU leaders hinted at the Riga Summit that the visa regime for these countries might be lifted already next year. No unambiguous answers were provided, however, on their chances of joining the EU in a foreseeable future.

The Riga Summit saw the signing of agreements on the European Commission's new 1.8 billion euro (1.99 billion U.S. dollars) macro-financial assistance program for Ukraine, a country which in addition to security issues is struggling with economic difficulties.

Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission's Vice President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, said that one of Europe's most important tasks today is to help Ukraine "achieve peace and turn this country into a modern, stable and prosperous economy. Structural reforms are tough even if they have to be carried out in good times."

The declaration the Riga Summit produced after two days of meetings and negotiations reaffirmed the EU's commitment to the Eastern Partnership as a specific dimension of the European Neighborhood Policy.

They reaffirmed their shared vision of this strategic and ambitious partnership as one based on mutual interests and commitments and supporting sustained reform processes in the Eastern European partner countries, the ones participating in the Eastern Partnership.

Speaking at a press conference after the summit, Straujuma said she was satisfied with the result, adding that summit declarations are always a comprise.

"The declaration is about cooperation - in business, among people, development of infrastructure. It is not aimed against anybody or anything, it is for development," she said.

The EU's 4th Eastern Partnership Summit took place in Riga during May 21-22. Latvia hosted the event as the current president of the Council of the EU. Endit