EU sees Belt and Road Initiative as "positive"

TALLINN, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) sees the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative as a "positive" project to promote the connections between Asia and Europe, a top EU official said here on Friday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser, Federica Mogherini, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for May 14-15 in Beijing.

"We are preparing, in a very positive manner, for the next EU-China summit to be held in Brussels at the beginning of June," said Mogherini, adding that her visit to Beijing in April is "a success."

"Our relations are really based, I think, now on extremely solid bases. China and the European Union recognize each other, in this period of the history of the world, as two reliable global powers," she noted.

For his part, Mikser said he believes there is huge potential and increasing opportunities for EU and China to do business and enhance trade.

Mogherini was visiting Estonia to attend the annual Lennart Meri Conference on foreign and security policy issues. The conference was named after the late Lennart Meri, who served as Estonian president from 1992 to 2001.