The Prime Minister: Let us leave the door of the European Union open to Ukraine
Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok attended the summit in Vilnius of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union – a meeting of representatives of the European twenty-eight and six of the EU‘s eastern neighbours.
In the presence of the President of the European Council and the European Commission President the heads of state and prime ministers discussed relations between the EU and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. "I think that, for example, the negotiated agreements on free trade zones will have a long-term positive impact on the economies of all the countries involved", said Prime Minister Rusnok, referring to Georgia and Moldova.
In the case of the Association Agreement between the the European Union and Ukraine, however, no signature has taken place. “As the Czech Republic we will support that the door continuing to remain open for Ukraine. But the Ukrainians themselves must decide about their future", the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also assessed the summit as a success. "The meeting was intended to bring the participating partner countries closer to the Union in the form of an Association Agreement and Free Trade Agreement, in which we have succeeded", said Jiří Rusnok . The summit also brought agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan on visa facilitation and negotiations were also concluded on an agreement on civil aviation between the EU and Ukraine.
The third EU Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania followed the first-ever summit of this kind held in Prague in 2009. The Prime Minister now wants to recall these Czech roots. "We have offered to host a conference next spring in Prague, which would keep the Eastern Partnership agenda going at the highest possible level", Jiří Rusnok told the press briefing.
