Warsaw, April 12 (CTK) – The meeting of foreign ministers from the countries of the Visegrad Group (V4) and Eastern Partnership (EaP) talked about China’s Silk Road and ways of making this project a part of cooperation with Eastern Partnership states, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek told CTK yesterday.
He said the main issue of the meeting was transport infrastructure and partly also energy infrastructure. However, no particular projects have been discussed so far, he added.
Zaoralek said the diplomacy chiefs dealt with the financing of joint projects. He said the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) might become involved in their financing.
Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, participated in the meeting today as well as representatives from Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden.
Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said after the Warsaw talks that the EaP project needs to be adapted to the situation in the region that is worsening due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Waszczykowski said EaP is a priority for the Visegrad Group and that it should be reinforced as it is the EU’s only political instrument towards its eastern neighbours. He said today’s meeting was a part of the preparation for an Eastern Partnership summit to be held in Brussels this autumn.
The V4 comprises Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The EaP members are six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Zaoralek and his Slovak and Hungarian counterparts, Miroslav Lajcak and Peter Szijjarto, paid a visit to Kiev. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin asked them not to underestimate the threat posed by the Russian propaganda against the EU.
