President Maia Sandu, the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabashvili, and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed the joint statement of the Associated Trio on the Sixth Summit of the Eastern Partnership.

“We recognize that the dramatic changes in the situation in the EaP and Black Sea region since the fifth EaP Summit in 2017, including emerging security, energy, health, and other challenges, must be addressed collectively by partner countries and in close cooperation with the EU. We emphasize that continued destabilization and violations of the principles of international law in many parts of the Eastern Partnership region pose a serious threat to peace, security, and stability in Europe.

We welcomed the EU’s active efforts in conflict resolution and confidence-building processes and called for its role in strengthening peace and stability in the EaP region using all available tools, including relevant restrictive measures where necessary.

We urged EU leaders to address these issues at the European Council meeting on 16 December 2021. We recalled that Russia’s attempts to annex and illegally occupy the territories of Georgia, its aggression in eastern Ukraine and the temporary occupation of Crimea, and the unresolved conflict in the Transnistrian region of Moldova poses a serious threat to the region and to Europe as a whole.

We reiterate our strong condemnation of the clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a number of Eastern Partnership states, including incitement and support for the conflict, the use of misinformation and cyber attacks, the growing militarization of the region, human rights violations, or the organization of elections in the temporarily occupied territories. We also noted the importance of further strengthening resilience and cooperation in the field of the Common Security and Defense Policy and the Common Foreign and Security Policy with the EU and recalled our joint commitment to promote the principles of Association Agreements. We look forward to developing cooperation with EU agencies and mechanisms, including the European Peace Facility and participation in PESCO projects. We also expressed interest in engaging in a dialogue with the EU based on the Security Compass initiative.

We reiterate our determination, supported by the strong will of our peoples, to work for accession to the European Union. In this regard, we call on the EU to support the sovereign election of our states, together with all the relevant steps we have taken towards European integration, and to recognize the European perspective of Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine,” the statement said.

The leaders of Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova lobbied the European Union at the Eastern Partnership summit to allow them to start negotiations to join the EU, Reuters reports.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday, before attending the summit, that he will campaign for Moldova’s accession to the European Union and will demand that the EU become more, more intensely, and more often involved in resolving conflicts affecting EU partners. writes Digi24.