Ms. Kupchina stresses the necessity of greater differentiation and increasing the effectiveness of the initiative through implementing regional projects. She also wishes to promote dialogue and co-operation between the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union, aiming for a single economic zone between Lisbon and Vladivostok.
Major attention was paid to the initiative’s implementation and prospects for further development after the Eastern Partnership Riga Summit, including in the context of a revised European Neighbourhood Policy. During the plenary session, the head of the Belarusian delegation stated Belarus’ principle approaches towards collaboration within the Eastern Partnership.
During the Informal Ministerial Dialogues, Ms. Kupchina met several delegation heads, including the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, and the Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs of the EU’s European External Action Service, Helga Schmid. They discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral and multilateral co-operation, giving attention to relations between the Republic of Belarus and the European Union.
By Alexey Fedotov