October 7, 2009 - 19:53 AMT
Miloš Lexa: EU not yet ready for new expansion
EU is not yet ready for new expansion, said Eastern Partnership Czech Coordinator Miloš Lexa. "Ahead of Paris Summit it was decided that initiative did not aim at integrating member states to EU or making them associate members. EU is not currently ready for expansion. Serbia and Turkey's membership are now under discussion, but Union is not ready to satisfy a new stream of countries seeking EU integration," European diplomat said, adding that EU believed that European Partnership might become preparatory stage for countries' associate membership.

Eastern Partnership member states are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus.