10 years passed since the launch of the Eastern Partnership in 2009, a novel initiative instituted by the European Union (EU) and 6 Eastern European partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine). In the course of the past decade, the Partnership matured into an effective political project, advancing the relations between EU and Partners to a qualitatively new level. It also consolidated regional dimension by setting up a comprehensive multilateral format to promote a result-oriented cooperation and ensure concrete deliverables.

The Eastern Partnership has been particularly instrumental in promoting people to people contacts, trade and economic cooperation, as well as democratic institution`s building. At the same time, the partner countries still face the challenges of different nature, especially in the areas of security, territorial integrity and economic development.

The Conference aims at assessing the Partnership, its main deliverables, as well as present geopolitical context. The participant of the conference will reflect on the challenges common to the EU and Eastern partners so that Eastern Partnership effectively accommodates to the interests of each party, in line with the principles of differentiation and inclusiveness.

The Batumi International Conference will offer specific thematic sessions highlighting major areas of cooperation where participants will share new ideas on further strengthening of the Partnership and advancing European integration processes beyond 2020.

Participants of the conference will also deliberate on the processes of democratic transformation, developments in the Black Sea security and on-going conflicts in the region and discuss the projects in the fields of transport, energy and digital connectivity that aim at deeper economic integration of the partners with the EU.

Two parallel events: Eastern Partnership Investment Forum and Donors’ Annual Assembly of the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund will take place on the sidelines of the Conference.

The Conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership will bring together high-level officials and representatives from academia, non-governmental sector and business representatives from the EU and six partner countries.