Negotiations with the European Union on a new cooperation agreement are almost complete. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubaev told today at a press conference.
According to him, the text of the document is being translated into the languages of all EU member states. The approval process is underway. The Foreign Ministry expects that the preparation of the agreement will be completed by the end of the year.
«Then we will discuss the terms of its signing. The work is ongoing. We are interested in signing this agreement. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan already have it. We are lagging behind in this regard. We are intensively negotiating, I think, at the end of this year or the beginning of the next, we will come to the terms of signing,» Jeenbek Kulubaev said.
He also noted that negotiations are underway over a possible visit of the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov to the EU countries. It will be planned taking into account the readiness of the cooperation agreement and in agreement with the EU.
«One does not exclude the other. Even if the agreement is not ready, the visit will take place. We are negotiating. We have other topics for conversation with the European Union, bilateral relations,» he concluded.
Negotiations on the new agreement have been going on since December 2017. Its final version was initialed in 2019. Since then, work has been carried out to prepare an agreement for signing by the heads of Kyrgyzstan and the European Union. It includes new areas of cooperation and markedly improves the regulatory framework for trade and economic relations in line with WTO rules and regional economic agreements.
