International Conference “Visegrad Four Eastern Partnership: on the way to the Vilnius summit” is taking place today, 17 June, in Odesa. The event was organized by the Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association and the National Institute for Strategic Studies.

The conference is part of the “Visegrad Four talks to the East”, which implements the Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association with financial support from the Eastern Partnership Programme of the International Visegrad Fund. The sessions are held in Ukraine and Moldova on issues related to the Eastern Partnership.

“In November, 2013, Vilnius, Lithuania, will host a summit of the Eastern Partnership, which is expected the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union.

Eastern Partnership is a project submitted by Poland in 2008 with the support of Sweden, which is focused on strengthening the European Union's relations with its eastern neighbours ― Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. An important role in the implementation of the Eastern Partnership countries plays Visegrad Four (Visegrad Group). It is an association of four Central European countries: Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary,” the organizers of the conference noted.

During the conference it will be discussed the most problematic issues and/or institutional limitation of the Eastern Partnership (SP), which does not allow them to achieve the objectives of the Eastern Partnership; what kind of help and how to provide the Visegrad Four countries, and are able to offer Eastern Partnership countries to strengthen their capacity to achieve objectives of the Eastern Partnership.

The conference is attended by experts from Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Germany, Romania, Great Britain, Russia, and Belarus.