18:18, 05 декабря 2019, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Tatyana KUDRYAVTSEVA
«We hope for signing and ratification of an expanded cooperation agreement between the European Union and Kyrgyzstan in 2020,» Eduard Auer, Head of the EU Delegation to the Kyrgyz Republic, said to reporters.
According to him, the previous agreement had been valid for almost 20 years. The upcoming one provides for cooperation in new areas, expansion of political dialogue, environmental issues, transport, human rights and many others. There are no exact dates for signing and publishing the document so far.
«This year, the agreement was initialed by the Foreign Minister Chingiz Aidarbekov and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. According to the rules, lawyers on both sides will translate the document, clarify all the details. After that, they should sign it. We do not know how long the procedure will last. But from the experience of signing similar agreements with other countries, I can say that the process will take several months,» said Eduard Auer.
Recall, negotiations on the new agreement have been conducted since December 2017. It includes new areas of cooperation and significantly improves the regulatory framework for trade and economic relations in accordance with WTO rules and regional economic agreements.