2015-05-22 08:49:00

EU Urges Ex-Communist Countries To Stay With West


(Vatican Radio)  The European Union has urged six former-communist nations to move closer to the 28 nation bloc as a way to resist what it calls Russia's "bullying tactics" amid a standoff over the conflict in Ukraine. EU President Donald Tusk made the appeal at the start of a two-day summit in Latvia. Speaking at the gathering in Latvia's capital, Riga, Tusk urged the former Soviet republics to seek to deepen their partnership with the West and to strive for a brighter future for their citizens.

Click below to listen to Stefan Bos' report:

He warned government representatives of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus, who are already part of the EU's Eastern Partnership program, not to fall back into Moscow's orbit. "The EU's Eastern Partnership program is not a beauty contest between Russia and the EU," he told reporters. "But let me be frank: Beauty does count. If Russia was a bit softer, more charming, more attractive, perhaps it wouldn't have to compensate its shortcomings by destructive, aggressive and bullying tactics towards its neighbors," Tusk added. He spoke while in Ukraine, Europe's security organization OSCE announced that two men captured by government forces had admitted to being Russian soldiers. 

AMERICAN TRAINERS

American military personnel are continuing to train government forces at a time of ongoing battles against Russian-backed separatists in the east, explained U.S. captain Steven Modungo. "It is all about the individual soldiers skills. So, we start at the lowest level, we build a strong base. And we are just moving up to a larger level so that they work and basically communicate as one giant platoon effectively," he said. Back in Riga, however, the EU now tries to prevent the conflict spreading towards other nations in the region. Yet that's easier said than done. The Eastern Partnership suffered a major setback 1 ½ years ago, when Ukraine's then-president Viktor Yanukovych withdrew from signing an association agreement and opted for closer links with Moscow and President Vladimir Putin.

ECONOMIC DECLINE

Analysts say that after Yanukovych was ousted, Ukraine's new leadership turned back toward the EU but paid a heavy price: Russia annexed Crimea and eastern territories border Russia are embroiled in a conflict that killed thousands while the nation is in deep economic decline. Armenia and Belarus limited their relations with the EU by joining Russia's Eurasian Economic Union and Azerbaijan is showing little excitement about the EU partnership, sending its foreign minister to Riga instead of its president. Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova are still seeking deeper integration. Yet at least several EU countries are reluctant to open the door for membership in the Western club at a time when the Union already faces difficulties. The EU promised grants of some $223 million over the next 10 years to promote small and medium-sized businesses in the three countries. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already warned that the EU should not raise any false expectations in the talks with the eastern partners about EU membership.








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