BERLIN (Reuters) - The crisis in Ukraine makes the European Union's partnership with the bloc's eastern neighbours more important than ever, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, insisting that the initiative is not directed against Russia.
Speaking in parliament before joining a summit in Riga with six of the EU's ex-Soviet neighbours, Merkel said Europe's peaceful order had been shaken in the last 18 months by Russia's "illegal annexation" of Crimea and fighting in eastern Ukraine.
