On May 12, the Delegation of the European Union to the Kyrgyz Republic hosted a reception to celebrate Europe Day.
The event was attended by heads of diplomatic missions, members of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and Members of Parliament, representatives of state institutions, international organizations, business associations and non-governmental sector as well as by participants of the EU funded educational and cultural programmes.
In his opening speech Head of EU Delegation, Ambassador Cesare De Montis reminded that the European Union marks its 60th anniversary in 2017. Within this time the EU achieved great results and became one of the major international players.
“Our bilateral relations are getting closer everyday: three visits of President Atambayev to Brussels in four years, countless political and technical meetings, the granting of the GSP+, 53% increase in Kyrgyz exports to Europe in 2016, yearly record highs in term of financial cooperation. Even more important we managed to build a mutual trust and understanding which allows to frankly discuss a number of matters and to have great expectations for the future. In a few months from now, Kirghizstan will face the challenge of presidential elections: once again we are convinced that this country will give a lesson of democracy to all of the region and beyond. Kyrgyzstan can be rightly proud of these achievements and the European Union is proud of bringing its support to this success story”, Cesare De Montis said.
Kyrgyz Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Emil Kaikiyev stressed that the cooperation with the European Union is one of the priorities of the foreign policy of Kyrgyzstan. He noted that the EU assistance is getting more and more specific and practical. He expressed the confidence that the cooperation will be continued on mutually beneficial basis.
The exhibition of the 20 EU funded projects was held during the reception. All the visitors were able to learn about the projects and get answers to their questions.