“If there is no cold war, there should no spheres of influence,” stated President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, after the institution decided Wednesday top launch the Eastern Partnership – a new type of relations between the EU and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Jose Manuel Barroso made the statement when asked how he sees the development of the Eastern Partnership, since the mentioned countries have close ties with the Russian Federation, Info-Prim Neo reports. “In the most acute moments of the crisis between Russia and Georgia, we said very clearly we were against spheres of influence. We are against this idea. I think all the countries have the right to choose which way to go,” said the President of the European Commission. The idea of launching special relationships with those six former Soviet countries belongs to Poland and Sweden, which see it as an alternative to the Union for the Mediterranean, promoted within the European Union (EU) especially by France. At a news conference in Brussels, relayed for journalists and EU officials in Chisinau, the EU Commissioner fro Foreign Relations and Neighboring Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, explained the difference of the EU's position toward those two types of partnership. “The Union for the Mediterranean is more based on joint projects, while the Eastern Partnership is more related to approximating those countries to the European standards, because these countries are on the European continent,” Benita Ferrero Waldner said. According to the Brussels officials, the de facto launch of the Eastern Partnership is planned for the spring of 2009. The Russian-Georgian crisis stepped up the moves in this direction and the partnership will start earlier than planned. Besides developing individual cooperation plans with each of those six countries, the European Commission plans to implement three multilateral key initiatives. The question is about a border management program, about offering facilities to small and medium-sized companies, improving regional electricity markets, creating a corridor in the south of the continent and preparedness to respond to natural and man-made disasters. The European Union already provides financing to the countries from the Eastern Partnership as part of bilateral programs. From 2007 to 2010, Armenia will get 98.4 million euros, Azerbaijan – 92 million, Georgia – 120.4 million (and additional 500 million euros to cope with the August crisis), Moldova – 209.7 million and Ukraine – 494 million euros. The European Union decided Wednesday to allocate other 350 million euro concretely for the Eastern Partnership.