Foreign Ministers of six EU member states said the union should give less money to post-Soviet neighbors and more to the countries of north Africa and the Middle East. The relevant letter addressed to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton was signed by foreign ministers of France, Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Slovenia.

The letter mentions “asymmetries” and “disparities” are “today difficult to justify and sustain,” euobserver website reported.

The Ministers also call on the European Investment Bank to lend to Arab countries €2.5 billion over the next two years.

The experts note that meanwhile people of Tunisia and Egypt are toppling dictatorships, some post-Soviet states seem to be in the middle of a trend towards authoritarian consolidation.