On March 31-April 1, 2011, delegates of the national parliaments of the Eastern Partnership member states and the European Parliament in the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly met at The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in a 5 + 1 format to finalize the constituent documents of the Assembly and prepare for its constituent conference in Brussels on May 2-3, 2011.
Heads and members of the delegations of Ukraine, the European Parliament, the Republic of Armenia and Georgia attended the meeting.
On March 31, heads of the delegations held bilateral meetings to discuss the key points of the constituent documents.
Meeting on April 1, the Parties stressed the necessity of launching the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly as a parliamentary component of the Eastern Partnership. The meeting confirmed that the Parties are willing to seek compromise to launch the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly with a full-fledged participation of the concerned parties.
Borys Tarasiuk, Head of the Ukrainian Delegation, suggested a compromise decision concerning the pressing issues of the constituent documents, which was supported by all the participants of the meeting. Further to the meeting, the attendants resolved to send the compromise solutions to be ratified by the national delegations. Afterwards, preparation for the sitting of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly on May 3, 2011 could start. As to the participation of the delegation of Belarusian Parliament in the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly, 10 vacancies shall be left for Belarus to ensure its full-fledged participation.
The delegates met Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The Head of the Parliament called for seeking compromise and launching a dialogue to implement new ideas and projects. V.Lytvyn also stated that the Parliament supports launching of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly. The Parties discussed the concern of the Belarusian Parliament, lest the Assembly should start its work without their participation.
Christian Vigenin, Head of the European Parliament delegation, stated that Ukraine is playing a meaningful role in this project. He hopes that Ukraine will help settle the issue of participation of the Belarusian delegation. He also stressed that the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly could become an extra tool of fostering bilateral relations and simplifying the visa regime.