BIG NAMES TO STAY AWAY FROM PRAGUE SUMMIT

ArmInfo
2009-05-05 13:45:00

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Spain’s Jose Luis Zapatero
will not attend the Czech EU presidency’s "Eastern Partnership"
summit on 7 May.

As Euobserver reports, London and Madrid on Monday (4 May) confirmed
that the two countries will instead send foreign ministers. Mr Brown is
"firmly committed" to the project despite his absence, the British
embassy to the EU told EUobserver, while Mr Zapatero is too busy
with a special meeting on unemployment, the Spanish mission said. A
spokeswoman for the Elysee Palace in Paris said "at this moment"
Mr Sarkozy is also not coming. The president is instead scheduled to
listen to a report on equal rights in France and attend a World War
II commemoration event.

‘If big countries such as the UK and France decide not to go, it
will send the message that the EU is not really serious about this
initiative. In a way, it would be a victory for Russian diplomacy,"
one EU official said.

To note, presidents of Belarus and Moldova, Lukashenko and Voronin,
also refused from participation in the summit.

To recall, the ‘Eastern Partnership’ initiative, which supposes
establishment of tighter cooperation with Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, was approved on March at EU
summit. Official launch of this programme has been scheduled for May
7 in Prague when "Eastern Partnership" special summit is held.