Please join the Atlantic Council on November 5, 2013 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm for an address by, and discussion with, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák, on the upcoming Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit in Vilnius in November. 

An address and discussion with

H.E. Miroslav Lajčák
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs 
Slovak Republic

Introduced and moderated by

Damon Wilson
Executive Vice President
Atlantic Council

The third of its kind, November’s EaP Summit is expected to mark progress in political association and economic integration with Eastern Partnership countries by advancing a series of Association Agreements, including Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreements with Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. These agreements would represent a substantive leap toward real transformation in Eastern Europe. They will progressively integrate the partner countries into the EU internal market and further intensify cooperation between the EU and its neighbors to the east. Yet each of these countries faces internal and external challenges which could disrupt their European aspirations.  

At the same time, with only three countries seemingly progressing towards agreements next month, the future of the Partnership is far from sure. Fundamental questions remain for the EU: How should the EU proceed in the face of increasing pressure by Russia on EaP countries to join Russia’s Customs Union, Moscow’s alternative to the EaP? What is the place of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus, three countries whose goals vis-à-vis the EU differ? Is it time for the EU to consider a new model or successor to the current EaP? Ultimately, are EU members prepared to offer those who make the most progress within the EaP a membership perspective? 

For years, the Eastern Partnership has been one of Slovakia’s foreign policy priorities, and Minister Lajčák—at both the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the European External Action Service—has been a key architect of this strategy.

Representatives of the press are welcome. All the proceedings of this event are on-the-record.
 

Business attire is requested.

Please use the West Tower Elevators when you arrive.

If you have any questions, please contact us.