EU launches ‘Eastern Partnership’

The European Union has launched a plan to forge close political and economic ties with six former Soviet republics in exchange for democratic reforms.

The Eastern Partnership Initiative agreed in Prague is intended to bolster stability in the region, but without the prospect of eventual EU membership.

The EU will invest 600m euros (£535m; $804m) in the project up to 2013.
Russia has accused the EU of trying to carve out a new sphere of influence in what Moscow sees as its own backyard..