The participants of the discussion were: Vasyl Bodnar, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Mykhailo Gonchar, President of the Centre for Global Studies “Strategy XXI”, Kyiv; Toni Michel, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Office in Ukraine, Kyiv; Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014-2019), Kyiv; Jan Pieklo, Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine (2016-2019), Warsaw; Oliver Morwinsky, Policy Advisor Europe's competitiveness, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Berlin; Veronika Movchan, Academic Director at Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, Kyiv; Ihor Stukalenko, Head of Energy Programs, Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI", Kyiv; Vitalii Martyniuk, Executive Director, Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI", Kyiv.

The speakers agreed on the need to set ambitious goals for further functioning of the Eastern Partnership, in which Ukraine can become a regional leader and an example for other partner countries.

The Eastern Partnership has a lot of opportunities for cooperation, and Ukraine's experience is extremely useful for the EU in countering threats from the Russian Federation, which hinders the key goal of this initiative - integration into the European Union. "Russia's aggressive policy hinders reforms in partner countries," Vasyl Bodnar said.

For further successful development of the Eastern Partnership, its partner states have to be motivated by a prospect of the EU membership. Jan Pieklo emphasized: "The Eastern Partnership should be formed in such a way that it could offer a prospect of the EU membership to the Eastern partners who signed the Association Agreement." However, one of the main obstacles to defining such an ambitious goal, as Pavlo Klimkin noted, is the lack of political will and unity within the EU on this issue.

While discussing of the economic and energy issues of further development of the Eastern Partnership, Oliver Morwinsky highlighted the details of the EU Multiannual Financial Framework and the Special Rescue Plan "Next Generation", noting that the EU had to reduce expenses for the Eastern Partnership. Veronika Movchan stressed that the European Union plans to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic with a renewed "green" economy that should be taken into account by the EaP countries. In any case, as Igor Stukalenko stressed, the EU and the partner countries should have a common regulatory space, because, for example, the borders of the European gas market are much wider than the geographical borders of the EU. "Ukraine's full participation in the European gas market is a determining factor in the Eastern Partnership program of the EU," the expert said, "And the EU gas market border should run along the border between Ukraine and Russia."

You can watch the discussion here -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=xg-XimLe7yc&feature=emb_logo&fbclid=IwAR17syG1IBkh0DJCZFP8lfpWMCOsLJFTGaqQZYSS8DRDu2xE_5w2lCvDI6E (in Ukrainian).