Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The 3^rd Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, will be an important moment for the EU and Eastern Europe, a joint statement made by Lithuanian, Poland Foreign Ministers and the United Kingdom Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Linas Linkevicius, Radoslaw Sikorski, and David Lidington, reads.

The summit will be held on November 28-29.

"The possibility of Ukraine signing its Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, and Moldova and Georgia initialing agreements, will be important milestones towards redefining and strengthening the EU's relationship with our Eastern European partners," the statement reads.

The statement notes that Eastern Partners have already made significant irreversible and sustainable political and economic reforms, which will benefit their citizens.

"As they continue to grow they need to continue to implement further reforms. Liberalized economies, open and inclusive politics, and respect for the rule of law are all key building blocks for prosperity in the EU from which our eastern partners and others can benefit. We are ready to support partner countries in their efforts to implement reforms and the Association Agreements," it said.

Azerbaijan is a part of the EU Eastern Partnership program adopted at the initiative of Poland and Sweden and approved at the EU summit in Brussels in 2008. It is aimed at improving the EU's relations with six former Soviet countries -- Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia.

The third Eastern Partnership Summit is expected to be the final step in visa regime simplification between Azerbaijan and the EU. The simplified regulations will be applied immediately after the signing and enactment of the agreement.