The success of the European Union's Eastern Partnership will depend on the support of all the EU member states and the countries it targets should use this instrument of the European Neighbourhood Policy to advance reforms that will bring the countries closer to the EU, representatives of the V4 Visegrad Group - the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, and representatives of Romania said on Wednesday at an international conference in Bucharest.

The conference, called the 'Contribution of the Visegrad Countries and Romania to the Eastern Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy,' organised by the Representation of the European Commission in Romania and the Embassy of Slovakia, is seen as an opportunity to reaffirm support of these countries for the Eastern Partnership, which was established in May 2009 in order to strengthen this dimension and in reaction to the French initiative to create a Union for the Mediterranean.

In the opening speech, State Secretary with the Romanian Foreign Ministry Bogdan Aurescu underscored the timely holding of the conference, just one day after the Visegrad Group celebrated its 20th anniversary and at a time when the European Union rotating presidency is held by Hungary, which will pass it on to Poland, another member of the V4 group.

Romania is a genuine partner of the V4 group, with which it shares common visions, said Aurescu, assuring that by its support Romania is promoting the position of the Eastern Partnership within the EU.

He also mentioned the establishment in February 2008 of the Back Sea Synergy, an EU initiative for regional cooperation, saying this was complementing the Eastern Partnership.AGERPRES