You're reading: Estonia sees Eastern Partnership countries in common economic space with EU

Estonia intends to offer the Eastern Partnership countries to create a common economic space with the European Union.

"Estonia wishes to achieve concrete results in creation of a common space between the European Union and the countries participating in the Eastern Partnership at the coming Eastern Partnership Summit slated for end of this year in Vilnius," Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said at a meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.

Paet said he hopes an associate agreement with Ukraine will be signed
and that with Georgia, Moldova and Armenia will be initialed at the
summit, the Foreign Ministry’s press service reported.

In his words, the purpose of the Vilnius summit is also to develop
proposals to strengthen the EU’s Eastern Partnership. One of such
possibilities will be the formation of the common economic space of the
EU-Eastern Partnership countries, he added.

For this, the countries should sign agreements on associate
membership, and these agreements should be successfully implemented. The
financing of the reforms by the European Union and raising awareness
about the need and the impact of changes may help here, the foreign
minister said.

He also noted the need for the simplification of visa procedures as soon as possible.

The Eastern Partnership countries include Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.