4 February 2009
AssA-Irada

The visiting Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer met with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Wednesday.

Kremer said in an interview with Azerbaijani TV that the sides had mainly discussed the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative. “One of the initiators of this program is Poland. A meeting between six countries expected to join the program in May will be held with senior EU representatives. One of the key objectives of the program is to form free trade between six countries. This will facilitate their membership in the World Trade Organization,” he said.

The Eastern Partnership program, which was initially floated by Poland and Sweden, envisions cooperation between the EU and East European countries, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus. Agreements to be signed with the countries participating in the program envision creating free trade areas. The ex-Soviet states are also required to adopt a set of EU regulations, along with simplifying visa regulations.