European Commission
MEMO
Brussels/Tbilisi, 12 February 2013
EU representatives at the Infomal Eastern partnership dialogue in Tbilisi
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle and Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid will take part in the second Foreign Ministers meeting of the Informal Eastern Partnership (EaP) dialogues in Tbilisi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The meeting is hosted by Georgia and brings together Foreign Ministers and high level officials of the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine). For the first time the Foreign Ministers meeting will be followed up by a sectoral ministerial meeting - this time dedicated to transport, where the European Commission will be represented by Vice President Siim Kallas.
The Informal EaP dialogue meeting is an important occasion for the Foreign Ministers of the partner countries to engage in discussions about the implementation of reforms related to the European agenda just few months ahead of the third Summit meeting in Vilnius in November this year.
In addition this meeting will allow the Deputy Secretary General Helga Schmid to engage with the Foreign Ministers in discussions on foreign policy issues of common interest such as Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mali.
The informal Eastern Partnership dialogues are held twice a year and hosted in turn by one of the Eastern Partnership countries.
Commissioner Füle and Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid will use their participation at the Informal EaP dialogue also for bilateral meetings with Georgian partners. They will meet with President Mikhail Saakashvili, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze and representatives of the Georgian Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum National Platform. Commissioner Füle will also meet with the Chairman of the Parliament David Usupashvili and Chairman of the Parliamentary Minority David Bakradze, the Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alexi Petriashvili and representatives of the Georgian Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum National Platform.
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