Vintage

EU backing ties with east

European Union leaders backed plans Friday to build closer ties with Ukraine and other former Soviet neighbors in an effort to reduce the risk of instability on the bloc's eastern frontiers.

An EU summit endorsed a proposal from Poland and Sweden to develop the EU's "eastern dimension." The plan also encourages closer economic and political cooperation between the EU's eastern neighbors.

"The European Council agrees on the need to further promote regional cooperation among the EU's eastern neighbors and between the EU and the region," said a statement adopted by EU leaders at the end of their two-day summit.

Poland and Sweden put forward the idea to go beyond the EU's current "neighborhood policy," which groups eastern European countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus with nations in North Africa and the Middle East.

They say it is important to make a distinction because the easterners are European nations that could one day apply to join the EU. The plan also balances a drive by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to bolster ties with southern neighbors through a "Mediterranean Union."

Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, is concerned about instability on its eastern borders as former Soviet states are squeezed between Russia and the West. With older EU nations wary about offering membership to the likes of Ukraine, Poland is seeking other means to draw the easterners close to the Western bloc.

Russia is not included in the plan. It has a separate cooperation deal with the EU.

EU leaders tasked the European Commission with drawing up details of the plan by early next year. The Poles and Swedes have suggested the EU could ease visa restrictions on countries to the east and develop closer cooperation on environmental issues and freeing up trade. They say closer regional cooperation could prepare the easterners for eventual EU membership.