President receives Catherine Ashton

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The President of Mongolia,Ts.Elbegdorj received Ms Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union /EU/ on April 29. Ts.Elbegdorj thanked Ms Ashton for participating in the 7th Ministerial Conference of CoD. Mongolia considers the EU as its Third neighbor, he said. By signing the partnership and cooperation agreement--which is expected soon--the EU and Mongolia will show how their collaboration and ties are developing, he stressed. This agreement is to have aims such as a democracy, human rights development, market economy, and a support to free trade, the sides noted. They also talked about continuing a tradition of educating Mongolians in EU countries. The leader of Mongolia is confident that the EU will open its representative office here after opening it in Myanmar. After this the sides touched upon matters related to Mongolia's membership in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe /OSCE/ in 2012 and new possibilities of closely cooperating in security and other spheres. Ms Ashton said that EUR 930 thous., which came to the EU together with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012, will be spent for children who are denied the chance of growing up in peace. She also said that is glad to see how the democracy is deepening in Mongolia.