The Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Dariashvili participated in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) ministerial meeting in Brussels on December 11, 2023.
The conference brought together EU foreign ministers and their counterparts from five EaP countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The sixth EaP country, Belarus, did not participate due to its ongoing political crisis.
The meeting was chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, who also addressed the ministers via video link.
EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi joined the meeting with representatives of the European External Action Service and the European Commission.
The main objective of the meeting was to review the achievements of the EaP since its launch in 2009 and to identify concrete recommendations for the future of the policy.
The ministers discussed how the EaP can continue to meet the needs of the member states and partner countries and the critical priorities of joint work in 2024.
They also discussed how to accelerate the delivery of the Economic and Investment Plan for the EaP, which was adopted in September 2023 and aims to mobilize up to €2.3 billion in grants and €17 billion in loans for the region.
The ministers also paid great attention to the challenges and opportunities in the EaP region, especially in security, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. They expressed solidarity with the people of Belarus and called for a peaceful and democratic resolution of the crisis.
They also reaffirmed their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the EaP countries and condemned the ongoing Russian aggression and occupation in Georgia and Ukraine.
They welcomed the progress made in the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and urged the parties to implement the ceasefire agreement of November 2020.
The ministers also highlighted the importance of strengthening the cooperation with civil society and other stakeholders in the EaP and enhancing the synergies with other regional policies and initiatives, such as the Black Sea Synergy and the Central Asia Strategy. They also agreed to hold the next EaP summit in the first half of 2024, which will mark the 15th anniversary of the policy.
The EaP ministerial meeting was a preparatory step for the upcoming EU-EaP summit, which will take place in Brussels in June 2024. The summit will be an opportunity to celebrate the EaP’s achievements and set a new strategic agenda for the partnership’s future.
