The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania,

considering the strategic importance for the European Union of the region which includes Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia;

emphasising that the long-term stability and security of these countries and the whole of Europe will be guaranteed only by strengthening democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, the market economy and good governance, i.e. the values and principles which underlie the Eastern Partnership policy and which were reaffirmed by the participants of the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit which established the essential achievements in the implementation of the Eastern Partnership initiative;

having regard to the conclusions of the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments, which took place on 6-8 April 2014 in Vilnius, regarding interparliamentary cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries;

having regard to the European Parliament Resolution of 12 March 2014 on assessing and setting priorities for EU relations with the Eastern Partnership countries and the European Parliament Resolution of 17 April 2014 on Russian pressure on Eastern Partnership countries and in particular destabilisation of eastern Ukraine;

being of the opinion that the European Union’s enlargement policy has clearly proved its significance as the most effective instrument securing peace and stability in Europe and, therefore, should be continued, especially in light of the recent dramatic geopolitical changes in Eastern Europe;

emphasising the right and freedom of each sovereign state to decide on its future, to choose the direction of foreign policy and to take decisions on accession to any international organisation or alliance without any external pressure,

supports the offering of a European perspective, including the possibility of applying to become a member of the Union under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, to Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, as the actions of these states clearly demonstrate the determination to further strengthen relations with the European Union and to implement the political, legal and economic reforms required to meet the membership criteria, and the offering of EU membership perspectives would undoubtedly be a strong driving force of these processes;

welcomes the decision of the European Council to bring forward the signing of the Association Agreements with Georgia and Moldova providing that it must take place not later than in June 2014 and expects the concurrent signature of the remaining chapters of the Association Agreement with Ukraine;

is of the opinion that the Association Agreements, including Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas, with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine is a significant step in the process of integration of these countries into the European Union and the most effective instrument of strengthening their political and economic stability, enhancing resilience to external threats and accordingly responding to the choice of people to link their future with the European Union;

is ready to ratify European Union Association Agreements with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine following their signature;

notes the importance of proper preparation of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine for the implementation of the Association Agreements and hence calls on institutions of the European Union to allocate the financial support provided for the Eastern Partnership countries during 2014-2020 primarily for the implementation of the Association Agreements and related reforms and to seriously consider changes in the Eastern Partnership countries and their impact on stability and security in the whole of Europe when establishing bilateral and multilateral priorities of the European Union and allocating funds under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument;

calls on authorities of the Republic of Lithuania to actively cooperate with the relevant authorities of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in offering expert assistance for the preparation of the implementation of the Association Agreements;

underlines its intention to actively continue implementing initiatives for strengthening interparliamentary cooperation with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, especially those developed in the context of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, to further support, both on a bilateral level and a multilateral level, the parliaments of these states by sharing its expertise in democratic reforms, the rule of law and transposition and implementation of EU acquis with a view to achieving closer political association and economic integration with the European Union;

welcomes Moldova’s becoming the first Eastern Partnership country whose citizens are allowed to travel visa-free to the Schengen area as of 28 April 2014; calls on Georgia and Ukraine to pool their efforts in meeting the requirements of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plans and fully implement them before the Riga Eastern Partnership Summit;

emphasises that the support of civil society plays a decisive role in the implementation of democratic reforms, and therefore calls for raising awareness of the European Union among Georgia’s, Moldova’s and Ukraine’s societies, especially in order to explain the benefits of the Association Agreements; also calls on the authorities of the European Union and Member States to take a more active part in this relation through effective implementation of the initiatives of the EU Visibility Strategy and other necessary initiatives;

invites the parliaments of the Member States of the European Union and the European Parliament to enter, already now, into preparations for the fastest possible ratification of the Association Agreements between the EU and Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine;

condemns continuous Russia’s attempts to compromise the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia by aggravating internal conflicts, fuelling separatism and seeking to preclude these states from making an independent choice of their direction in the political and economic integration;

addresses the parliaments and governments of the Member States of the European Union, the European Parliament and other institutions calling for full awareness of their own responsibility for secure and democratic future of the whole of Europe, demonstration of their strong solidarity with people of the Eastern Partnership countries which decided to link their future with the European Union and support for their choice by all possible means.

 

 

Speaker of the Seimas                                                                               Loreta Graužinienė