Latvia sends official invitation to Armenia to attend Eastern Partnership summit in Riga

YEREVAN, April 29. / ARKA /. Latvia’s state secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs, Andrejs Pildegovičs, presented April 28 in Riga the ambassadors of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine with official invitations addressed to partner countries for participation in the 4th Eastern Partnership (EaP), Interfax reported.

The summit will be held in Riga on May 21–22. The official letters of invitation to the EaP countries were signed by Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, and Laimdota Straujuma, Latvia’s prime minister.

The Riga Summit is expected to  provide an opportunity for evaluating progress since the 3rd Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius. The Riga Summit will also address the development of the Eastern Partnership policy and further cooperation between the EU and partner countries within the EaP bilateral and multilateral dimensions.

At the meeting, Andrejs Pildegovičs, and the ambassadors of EaP partner countries exchanged opinions about preparations for the Riga Summit. The ambassadors were said to have highly appreciated what has been achieved till now, in preparing one of the most important events of the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council.

The Eastern Partnership project was launched in May 2009. One of its aims is to promote political association and economic integration with the EU’s eastern neighbors. The EaP member states include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. 

The EaP policy covers both bilateral cooperation between the EU and a partner country, and the multilateral dimension, which provides a common platform for cooperation in the 28+6 format in a number of sectors.

The first EaP Summit took place in Prague (Czech Republic) in 2009, the second summit – in Warsaw (Poland) and the third EaP Summit was held in Vilnius (Lithuania) in November 2013.-0-