The Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko considers each summit is an occasion for reflection and evaluations as to what was done in the past and for making plans and setting new objectives for the coming years. According to the official, these objectives are aimed at bringing concrete improvements for the citizens from the partner states. Such statements were made in an interview for Radio Free Europe before the fifth high-level meeting of the Eastern Partnership that starts in Brussels on November 24, IPN reports.
Peter Michalko said that eight years ago, when the Eastern Partnership was launched, a number of objectives were set and many of these were achieved. There are three countries that reached a high level of partnership with the EU, with Association Agreements and Free Trade Agreements that were signed and became a new, more solid basis for mutual relations.
“We have renewed the association agenda this summer. This is a working plan or working agenda that specifies the short- and medium-term priorities as regards reforms that will take place in the Republic of Moldova. And we also have a structural dialogue that includes periodic contacts and occasions for assessing the progress made between the EU and the partner states. This refers not only to governments, but also to the European Parliament and the parliaments of the given states,” noted the EU ambassador.
According to Peter Michalko, for the EU it is important to cooperate with all the partners from the neighboring states, the Eastern Partnership. The EU cooperates with the governments, with all the elements of society in the partner states. For the European Union, it is very important, together with the political factors, to be also in contact with those who work in the economic sphere and with the social partners and civil society, which is the most active part of each society, and with ordinary people.
