Eastern Partnership opens session without Belarus

Warsaw has held an official plenary session of the Eastern Partnership. Presidents of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Moldavian authorities arrived in Poland.

Belarus refused to attend the summit after a scandal with organizers of the forum about discrimination against Belarus.

The organizers of the summit refused to send an invitation to the Belarusian president. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry says that decisions passed without Belarus’s part will not be legitimate. The Belarusian ministry says that it is a violation of agreements reached at the first summit in Prague in 2009.

Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych said that the Eastern Partnership must not set limitations for states interested in joining the European Union. The partnership must be an auxiliary instrument for developing ties with the EU and support for their integration in Europe. It should not set limits for states striving for integration, the president said.

Yanukovych expressed confidence that political signals on European prospects and fulfillment of initiatives will be a success of the partnership.

The Ukrainian president also said that his state was the first to move towards the realization of basic principles of the Eastern Partnership and switch political association and economic integration with the EU. The sides need to sign a deal on associated membership and free trade zone.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski mentioned Ukraine as an example of European integration to Russia. The EU needs to sign a cooperation deal with Russia, UNIAN reports. Russia is negotiating WTO membership.

Signing of a document on economic integration with Ukraine requires release of Ukrainian Ex-Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and her part in the parliamentary polls of 2012.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili met High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. She had noted that the EU supports Georgian territorial unity and sovereignty, Georgian Speaker Bakradze said.

Director of the International Institute for Political Expertise Yevgeny Minchenko said that there should not be any serious discussions or decisions expected at the Eastern Partnership summit. The problem is the economic recession, bureaucracy, lack of financial resources to support the policy, Minchenko told Vestnik Kavkaza.

Energy issues will not be discussed either. The only energy topic for talks is the Nabucco. However, it will not be negotiated without solution of the Caspian problem, without approval of Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran. Turkmen President Turkmenbasha cannot neglect opinions of his neighbours and build the pipeline under the Caspian Sea, the expert says.

Another factor complicating realization of energy projects in the Caucasus is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which means that its discussion may renew at any moment. Refusal to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states is a related problem, Minchenko believes.