Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania achieve certain progress in Eastern Partnership

KYIV, 23 November (BelTA) – Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania have achieved certain progress in the formation of multilateral mechanisms of the Eastern Partnership. The statement to this effect was made at a briefing after the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the three countries Sergei Martynov, Piotr Poroshenko and Vygaudas Usackas in Kyiv on 22 November.

The sides stressed the importance of close cooperation before the December meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the EU and the members of the Eastern Partnership initiative in Brussels. The participants of the meeting are set to work out concrete projects that take into account the view of each participant.

Sergei Martynov, Piotr Poroshenko and Vygaudas Usackas approved the list of concrete initiatives, which they are going to present in their joint address to the European Commission at the summit in Brussels.

The Ministers emphasized the necessity of active cooperation within the initiative on the integrated border management.

A special attention was paid to the transport cooperation including the expansion of the Viking combined transport project (its transportation volume has increased five times over the past seven months), and the improvement of the Vilnius-Minsk-Kyiv highway. The sides also discussed the simplification of border crossing and the establishment of logistics centers to increase the efficiency of transport corridor between the Baltic and the Black seas.

The sides said that the potential of these projects may skyrocket if its geographical borders will be expanded owing to Turkey, the South Caucasus, the Middle Asia and the Scandinavian countries. The Foreign Ministers have reached an agreement to start the implementation of these issues at the project level in the near future.

Special attention was turned to an opportunity of delivering the Ukrainian electric energy to Lithuania through the Belarusian networks as well as developing the dialogue on visa-free issues with the EU. The sides decided to continue coordinating their actions including the visa regime liberalization regarding Belarus.

The ministers praised the signing of the framework agreements on the supply of the Ukrainian electric energy to Lithuania using Belarus’ transit potential by state energy companies Lietuvos energija and Ukrenergy Trade ZRt.

The Foreign Ministers of Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania agreed to study an opportunity of the joint celebration of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald and set up an international forum of experts in the historical heritage.

The joint projects that were discussed at the meeting also embraced tourism development in Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania including information support at the interstate level, and simplification of visa formalities.

The sides confirmed their interest in continuing such meetings. They expressed hope that the cooperation within the EU Eastern Partnership initiative would benefit not only the three countries but the whole Eastern European region.

The next trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania will take place in Minsk in H2 2010. The previous meeting was held in Vilnius in February 2009.