Euractiv: "Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine: A higher EU ambition"

Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - the three countries that signed the Association Agreements with the European Union in 2014 - are now ready for closer engagement and further opportunities with the EU, the foreign ministers of the three states say in their new op-ed on the Euractiv website.

Authored by Aureliu Ciocoi, Dmytro Kuleba and David Zalkaliani, the article advocates for a "political boost" to the Eastern Partnership initiative that has also linked the three countries to the EU, and for dialogue with the union that would "speed up integration and develop further opportunities ".

Published on Euractiv, a pan-European media network, the piece by the three officials says the Eastern Partnership countries are "ready to engage" with the EU on many levels to "promote the European perspective of our states".

On 24 June we visit Brussels for the first time as the Association Trio. We intend to make this cooperation as practical and result-oriented as possible, and also forward-looking and open to new benchmarks

- foreign ministers of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

The opinion article comes as the ministers visit Brussels this week, after a formalisation of the 'Associated Trio' states involving the countries last month. The three authors of the article detail the successes of the Association Agreements, as well as their "tangible progress" in reforms, as part of their aspiration for EU membership, over the recent years.

They also give mentions to the effects of security challenges and unresolved conflicts in their states that have "severely threatened" their stability and territorial integrity following - in cases of Georgia and Ukraine - conflicts with Russia and subsequent occupation or annexation carried out by the latter on their internationally recognised territories.

Read the full story here.