Eastern Partnership plan

Poland and Sweden have proposed a plan to strengthen the European Union's ties with its eastern neighbors. The proposal comes just as the European Commission has unveiled a France-backed initiative to create a "Mediterranean Union."

The Polish-Swedish plan, known as the "Eastern Partnership," would seek to boost the EU's engagement with non-member-states Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, with the door left open for Belarus should it implement sufficient reforms.  The plan would also liberalize trade, ease travel restrictions and promote cultural exchange.

Russia will be excluded from the project.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union, meanwhile, would create a grouping of EU member states and other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike the Polish-Swedish plan, which would be run by the EC, the French initiative will have its own secretariat.

Polish PM Tusk is expected to bring up the Eastern Partnership plan with President Sarkozy during his visit to Warsaw this week.