Eastern Europe Increasingly Under the Diplomatic Spotlight
Eastern Europe is increasingly under the spotlight of Brussels and Washington, which are clearly interested in avoiding further divergences and mayhem, particularly if Greece leaves the eurozone.
After a meeting with US Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Hoyt Yee on Wednesday, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov remarked that the US is a key ally in the fields of security, defence, energy security and economic cooperation.
‘The talks focused on the need to enhance the energy security of Bulgaria and the region. Energy diversification is a key element in this regard and diversifying sources and routes of natural gas is a priority of the Bulgarian government, said Minister Mitov’ reads a note released by the Ministry.
BALTIC COUNTRIES IN THE BALKAN PENINSULA
The European efforts focused on countries yet to join the block. Also on Wednesday, Baltic countries dealt with governments of the Balkan Peninsula, with Latvian officials meeting the Serbian government, while Lithuania praised Moldova’s decision to take the “European way”.
‘Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic reiterated today during his meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics… that European integration is a strategic foreign policy priority of Serbia’ reads a note released by the Serbian Government in the afternoon.
Latvia, which holds the Presidency of the the Council of the European Union, praised Belgrade for its reform track record.
‘Rinkevics said that the EU highly appreciates the reforms implemented by the Serbian government and that Latvia is ready to help, through a joint effort, to reach the goal of opening the first chapters in Serbia’s negotiations with the EU.’
Similarly, Lithuania’s Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Moldova’s President Nicolae Timofti, pledging to support the country in its path toward the European Union.
‘The Lithuanian head of state underlined that Lithuania also had walked an uneasy path of reforms and can now contribute to the development of Moldova with its expert knowledge. Various field-experts from Lithuania are already helping Moldova to transform its judiciary, state service, customs and civil society sectors’ Grybauskaitė’s office wrote in a separate communiqué.
Finally, the third Baltic country - Estonia - will play protagonist on Thursday, when Prime Minister Taavi Rǒivas visits NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
From a gas perspective, the three countries are successfully integrating their markets, with Vlinius taking the lead. For example, recently, Lithuania’s LITGAS obtained the green light to trade in the Estonian gas market without an additional licence by Estonian Competition Authority.