EU focus on ‘fundamentals’ ahead of Eastern Partnership Summit

EU foreign ministers have agreed to work on the “fundamentals” of democracy and human rights, as well as economic recovery and vaccine support, ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit in December.

Speaking to reporters after the Foreign Affairs Council on 18 October, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said the EU was working to prepare the new ministerial meeting next month and the Summit in December. “I don’t have to repeat the difficult geopolitical context: the situation in Ukraine, the protracted conflicts, the ongoing energy crisis in Moldova and the continuous repression in Belarus, which suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership.”

He said they had agreed to work on the “fundamentals” – democracy, human rights, rule of law, anti-corruption, as well as long-term socio-economic recovery, and support to partners with vaccines, vaccine certificates and the fight against disinformation. 

Borrell added that ministers had also had a long discussion about the issue of migrants channelled by Belarus into bordering EU countries, and the EU’s efforts to engage with third countries to cut the flow of people to Belarus.

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