The Eastern Partnership Riga Summit should not be a non-event

Abstract:
The 21-22 May 2015 Eastern Partnership (EaP) Riga Summit will take place against the backdrop of the new geopolitical reality in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood, in the aftermath of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine. Given the extremely complex geopolitical context, the importance of the Summit and the message it delivers to the partner countries – particularly to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, which have made European integration their foreign policy goal – cannot be underestimated. The Summit needs to send a strong, unambiguous signal reconfirming the EU’s commitment to the EaP, and offer a clear roadmap for the future. If the Summit turns out to be a non-event, with an empty declaration, it risks being perceived as rewarding the bullying policies of Russia.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Eastern Partnership Summit, 21-22 May 2015 http://www.europeansources.info/record/meeting-eastern-partnership-summit-riga-21-22-may-2015/

ESO: Background information: Europe's eastern partnership: why Riga matters http://www.europeansources.info/record/europes-eastern-partnership-why-riga-matters/

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