EU Riga summit 'not against Russia', Merkel says

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10. EU seeks to keep partnership with ex-Soviet nations on track

RIGA, Latvia — European Union leaders on Thursday will seek new ways to bolster ties with six post-communist nations in Eastern Europe, a year and a half after a previous summit of the Eastern Partnership ended with a fateful standoff over Ukraine.

Just ahead of the two-day summit in the Latvian capital, Riga, the EU promised grants of 200 million euros ($223 million) over the next 10 years to promote small and medium-sized businesses in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The EU said the grants were expected to unlock investments of 2 billion euros by companies for the three countries.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel dampened the hopes of some that the talks would pave the way for EU membership, saying the Eastern Partnership is not a tool for the bloc’s enlargement policy.

“We should therefore not raise any false expectations that we cannot fulfill later,” Merkel told lawmakers in Berlin before heading to Riga.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/eu-careful-not-to-tread-on-moscows-toes-at-eastern-summit/2015/05/21/cba009ba-ff8a-11e4-8c77-bf274685e1df_story.html