Yesterday, at the 6th Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels, the European Union and EU Eastern Partner countries reaffirmed their strong partnership, unity and solidarity. Together they agreed on a Joint Declaration, which provides a blueprint for future action, based on a renewed agenda for the Eastern Partnership focusing on recovery, resilience and reform. The Summit, held at the level of Heads of State or Government, brought together the European Union institutions, represented by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the 27 European Union Member States, and the the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. They were joined by High Representative/Vice-President, Josep Borrell. Leaders reiterated the importance of common values as the core of the Partnership. President Ursula von der Leyen said: “The Eastern Partnership is of major political importance for the European Union. Together we have launched a new, more ambitious phase in our partnership to guide our work in these challenging times. The European Union remains committed to strengthening the resilience of its Eastern partners in dealing with the economic, social and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also remain deeply concerned about the destabilisation and violations of international law that pose a threat to peace, security and stability in the region.” The EU's support will be underpinned by a €2.3 billion Economic and Investment plan in grants, blending and guarantees with a potential to mobilise up to €17 billion in public and private investments. In the margins of the Summit, the European Commission and its partners made progress in a number of key sectors of cooperation, including signing a €35 million agreement with the Polish development bank to allow Team Europe as a whole to step up the delivery of vaccines to the Eastern Partnership countries; an emergency support package for Moldova of €60 million to help reduce the impact of rising gas prices; as well as a number of strategic investments. President von der Leyen's remarks are available here. More information on the Summit is available here and here.