Vilnius Summit adopts final communique with "a forward looking agenda"

Updated.

The European Union Eastern Partnership summit  in Vilnius has ended. The summit adopted a final declaration which speaks of a forward looking agenda for the partnership that will build on the achievements of the past two years. EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy said that the European Union's partnership with its eastern neighbours "has now become an irreversible project".

The full Summit Declaration is available here.

Commonspace.eu special correspondent in Vilnius, Polina Ivanova, said that all in all the Summit concludes on a positive note.

Even on Ukraine, which has been the Summit's biggest dissapointment, there remains a ray of hope for the future. The Office of Ukrainian President Yakunovich this morning released a statement declaring Ukraine's plans to sign the Association Agreement "in the near future".

On another positive note Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, announced that Belarus has just agreed to start negotiations about visa facilitation, a big step forward for the Eastern Partner that has had the least involvement in the Summit.

 

source: Polina Ivanova is reporting for commonspace.eu from Vilnius.

photo: The opening of the formal session of the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on 29 November 2013.

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