I bring this meeting to order.
Good morning, colleagues. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are studying the situation in eastern Europe and central Asia 25 years after the end of the Cold War. As you know, we're getting close to the end of our study. This morning we will be hearing from some key officials: Mr. Sarty, director general of the European affairs bureau; and Mr. Morgan, acting director of the eastern Europe and Eurasia relations division.
As per normal, colleagues, we will hear from our witnesses for a few minutes, probably 10 minutes or so, and then we'll go into questions. As I understand it, we have the witnesses for roughly an hour and a half, so there's no big rush. Everybody will get a chance to get their questions in and have a good discussion. The landscape, as you know, is changing quickly in eastern Europe, almost every day, so this will be a very timely discussion with the officials from Global Affairs.
I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Sarty for his opening comments. Then we'll go into questions and sort it out with Mr. Morgan as we go.
The floor is yours.