Andrey Kovatchev MEP, Head of the Bulgarian
Delegation of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, lead negotiations on
behalf of the EPP Group (Shadow Rapporteur) on the Report on assessing and
setting priorities for EU relations with the Eastern Partnership.
"The political groups reached a consensus that the
European Union should firmly support the democratic pro-European processes in
the countries of the Eastern Partnership. The Eastern Partnership is equally
committed to both the countries and its citizens. We therefore need to send
them, but also NGOs and businesses, clear signals of our readiness for deeper
cooperation", Kovatchev said.
Kovatchev, who is Vice-Chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, considers that the Eastern
Partnership has become a battlefield between the EU and Russia over the last
year, and particularly in the last few months.
"Every breach of international law and the Budapest
Memorandum of 1994 guaranteeing the territorial entirety of Ukraine should be
firmly condemned. I hope that the crisis in Ukraine will be resolved by
diplomatic means and not by sabre-rattling and the use of force that we have
been witnessing so far", he added.
Andrey Kovatchev made clear that more flexibility is
needed towards the countries that, despite their will to do so, cannot sign the
Association Agreement with the EU because of Russian pressure.
"The EU should sign the Association Agreement with
Ukraine as soon as possible and propose new forms of cooperation with Armenia
which was forced to give up on its efforts for Association Agreement with the EU
because of the enormous economic and political pressure from the Kremlin."
The Report on the Eastern Partnership will be voted
in plenary at the next plenary session in Strasbourg in March.
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