A program of cooperation between the EU and Belarus will be adopted at the upcoming European Partnership summit in Brussels, French Ambassador to Belarus Didier Canesse said.
“The EaP is built on the principle of differentiation, i.e. each partner defines the level and scope of cooperation with the EU. Concerning the summit in Brussels, it is expected that a program of cooperation between the EU and Belarus will be endorsed. Now I cannot go into details, but I can assure you that there will be new elements,” Canesse told TV channel Belarus-1.
As reported earlier, the European Union is ready to welcome Belarus president Alyaksandr Lukashenka at the summit which is scheduled for November, 24. A decision on the level of Belarus’ participation in the event will be made ‘in due time’, Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey said in October.
The Eastern Partnership is an EU initiative with a stated goal of strengthening relations with its neighbours in Eastern Europe and Southern Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The recent EaP summit of EU and ex-Soviet countries took place in the Latvian capital on May 21-22, 2015.
Uladzimir Makey represented Belarus in Riga. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka never attended the previous summits in Prague, Warsaw and Vilnius. At that time, the Belarusian leader and his sons were on the EU black listfor serious violations of human rights, for the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition or for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Belarus. In February 2016, the sanctions were lifted.
ІІ, belsat.eu
