Foreign Minister finds stability of Eastern Partners important

EU foreign affairs ministers met with their counterparts from Eastern Partnership countries in Brussels on Monday. After the session of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák pointed out that the talks with partners from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine were high on the agenda. He clarified that the participants in this event had evaluated the ten years of the programme and talked about how relations with the six post-Soviet countries should develop into the future. "There is a clear differentiation between the countries where there is a need for a vision for the future that will take into account their ambitions concerning the extent to which they wish to become closer to the EU," stated Lajčák. According to him, it is clear that the prospect of membership in the EU is not on the agenda of the day for these countries. Lajčák noted that from the point of view of the EU, but also of Slovakia, the Eastern partners are neighbours and their stability is also in the local interest.