BRUSSELS AND THE EASTERN NEIGHBOURS
The Ambassador of Lithuania H.E.Mr Vygaudas Ušackas gave the speech on “Brussels and the Eastern Neighbours – How far Without a Prospect of Membership” at the inaugural conference of the Centre of the Eastern European Language Based Area Studies (CEELBAS) on 19 April.
The Ambassador wished the conference and academic and think-tank community at large to actively debate the historical significance of the EU enlargement and engagement policies and thus exert a stronger pressure on political leaders of the EU member states for a more ambitious and assertive policies of integration with the Eastern European countries. The ambassador said that to date, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia have all shown and proven to be genuinely interested to seek EU membership. The EU must present an attractive offer to ENP partner countries – offering them improved free trade and investment prospects, making people-to people contacts and legitimate short-term travel easier, being more active in addressing frozen conflicts, and opening more possibilities to mobilize funding. It was concluded by the ambassador that the EU has to make a bolder statement of the “ENP+” goals and principles, followed with a more tailored, self –differentiated, but not discriminated engagement.
Brussels and the Eastern Neighbours – How far Without a Prospect of Membership ( 41.0 kb )
