EU URGES MEMBERS TO PROVIDE MORE AID TO EX-SOVIET NATIONS

Deutsche Welle
Feb 23 2009
Germany

The EU Commission has called on EU nations to provide more aid
for Ukraine and four other ex-Soviet states as part of a proposed
"Eastern Partnership" program aimed at making the bloc’s Eastern
doorstep more stable.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on
Monday, Feb. 23, that the European Union has a "crucial strategic
interest" in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Unveiled by the European Commission last December, the "Eastern
Partnership" foresees granting some 350 million euros ($448 million)
in extra help between now and 2013 to the EU’s ex-Soviet neighbors.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in
Brussels on Monday, Ferrero-Waldner said the bloc’s so-called "Eastern
Partnership" had gained urgency in the wake of the August conflict
between Georgia and Russia and January’s gas standoff between Russia
and Ukraine.

"The ‘Eastern Partnership’ is a very timely initiative that needs
to be implemented," Ferrero-Waldner said, adding that problems in
Eastern Europe "affect us directly."

Eastern Europe has been hard hit by the global slowdown with many
countries facing rising popular anger as cash-strapped governments
cut spending.

Ukraine, which received billions in aid from the International
Monetary Fund last year, has seen widespread demonstrations as its
economy crumbles and savers rush to pull out money from banks.

Democratic progress

The plan aims to promote economic and political stability in the
countries and reduce Russia’s influence in the region. It includes
free trade agreements, visa waivers, financial aid and economic
integration with the EU.

In return, the eastern neighbors are expected to step up progress
toward economic modernization, democracy, the rule of law and human
rights.

The "Eastern partnership" scheme is to be approved at an EU summit
next month and launched in May.

But some EU member states have expressed reservations about the
proposal.

France, which pushed the EU’s Mediterranean Union project last year,
is reported to fear that increasing funding to the bloc’s eastern
neighbors would shift the EU’s strategic focus away from North Africa
and the Middle East.