EU leaders give green light to Eastern PartnershipJune 20, 2008 - 20:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - European Union leaders backed plans on Friday to offer closer ties to the bloc's eastern neighbors, partly to match a more ambitious project for the Mediterranean region. The Eastern Partnership plan is to offer new areas of cooperation to Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and, subject to domestic reforms, Belarus. But the plan is vague, with details only to be worked out by March, 2009. The EU's eastern neighbors are already linked to Brussels through the strictly bilateral European Neighborhood Policy, which offers countries better trade access, economic assistance and visa liberalization as they adapt to EU standards. "The European Council (EU governments) agrees on the need to further promote regional cooperation among the EU's eastern neighbors and between the EU and the region," said the leaders' draft statement, Reuters reports. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |