Lithuania has called on the European Union to assist the EU member states of the Eastern Partnership program in providing a vaccine against coronavirus. The Baltic republic’s Foreign Ministry announced this on Wednesday.
“The EU will not be safe [from the pandemic] until all of our neighbors are protected, including those in the east,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis was quoted as saying in the statement. He expressed the hope that once EU member states receive their intended amount of COVID-19 vaccine, the community will also take into account the needs of its neighbors “not only in the Western Balkans but also in the Eastern Partnership and other countries.” EU members are making collective purchases of the coronavirus vaccine.
A letter initiated by Lithuania to European commissioners responsible for health and cooperation with EU partners was signed by ministers of Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden, according to the report.
The multilateral program “Eastern Partnership” was launched by the EU in 2009. Its main goal is declared to develop regional cooperation with six former Soviet republics — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
