EC wants deeper ties to ex-Soviets states

BRUSSELS, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The European Union proposed improving relations with six ex-Soviet republics to diminish Russian influence over those nations and improve regional stability.

The proposed Eastern Partnership with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus would include free-trade deals, closer energy ties, easier access to visas, security and defense consultations and financial assistance programs worth $760 million over two years, a report by the EU's European Commission said.

The report proposes the EU triple aid to the six countries to more than $2 billion by 2020.

But it does not mention EU membership for any of them -- something Ukraine wants.

EU leaders are scheduled to discuss the report in Prague, Czech Republic, the spring.

"The time is ripe to open a new chapter in relations with our Eastern neighbors," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso of Portugal told reporters.

The nations on the EU's eastern flank have emerged as a new priority, four months after Georgia's military conflict with Russia, Barroso said.

"The Cold War is over and where there is no Cold War, there should be no spheres of interest," he said.

A senior European diplomat told the International Herald Tribune if the EU did not engage with these countries, Russia would likely step in.

"If you don't offer these countries a future, there's always Russia," he said.