Brussels, 11/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - During the Eastern Partnership Summit on Thursday 7 May in Prague, the European Commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero Waldner and the Belarus foreign minister, Sergey Martynov, signed a declaration affirming the two parties' intention to pursue their dialogue on crucial energy questions of mutual interest that involve the transport and transiting of oil and gas, as well as supply problems. Both sides agree that they are linked by common interests in the energy sector and that integration of their markets could benefit them and strengthen energy security on the European continent. They are also committed to exchanging information on their strategies and energy programmes and converging their approaches on regulation and electricity and gas market reforms. Ms Ferrero-Waldner stated that, “this is a small but confident step”. The declaration of intention will have formal value once it is signed by the Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs and the Belarus energy minister, Alexandre Ozerets. (E.H./trans/rh)