The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek officially opened the 1st Session of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on Thursday. Delegations from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine joined colleagues from the European Parliament for the launch of this new Parliamentary framework that connects the European Parliament with the Parliaments of the Eastern Partnership countries.
In his opening address the President of the EP appealed for more co-operations between the five Eastern Partnership countries themselves "It is important that there is greater integration among yourselves - I strongly encourage that you move towards greater mobility of goods, services, capital and people among you".
Buzek added that "greater cooperation will allow us to meet local challenges better - such as regional conflicts where we can serve as objective facilitators and provide peer encouragement to find peaceful resolution. Issues that concern us all - energy security, social and economic problems, the environment, infrastructure - become more manageable when we work together and under common rules".
Despite this appeal observers noted that tensions in the Caucasus region, particularly between Armenia and Azerbaijan, continue to create "usual problems" in the organisation of the work of EURONEST. The session spent a lot of time discussing the venue of the next meeting after Azerbaijan offered to host it. After "a long discussion" it was decided that the meeting will be held in Baku in May 2012. This decision upsets the Armenian delegation who in the Spring had tried unsuccessfully to host the 1st session in Yerevan coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Armenian independence.
Regardless of these difficulties EURONEST is an important process that is crucial for the future success of the Eastern Partnership and of the European Union's relations with its Eastern Neighbours, and all sides need to remain engaged with it in a positive manner. The process needs to move quickly from discussions on format and procedure to discussions on substance, where there are many things in common and where the Eastern Partner countries can focus on positive asspects that would actually bring benefits to their countries and their people.
source: This commentary was prepared by the commonspace.eu editorial team
photo: Delegations at the 1st Session of EURONEST pose for "family photo" (picture courtesy of the Press Service of the European Parliament).
