Leaders who attended the 25th summit between Russia and the European Union (EU) called the two-day event fruitful, open and friendly after it concluded on Tuesday At a post-summit press conference, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, European Council President Herman van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso all hailed the summit, which was held here in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. A joint statement on the Partnership for Modernization, a bilateral agreement on the protection of classified information and a declaration condemning Israel's attack on a Gaza-bound international aid flotilla one day ago were among the issues discussed at the summit. 'In a world in which peoples and economies are ever more closely connected and interdependent, modernizing our economies and societies becomes ever more important and necessary,' said the statement. The Partnership for Modernization which is currently under negotiation,will serve as 'a flexible framework for promoting reform, enhancing growth and raising competitiveness,' it said. The new initiative will also build on results achieved in the context of the four EU-Russia common spaces. The statement outlined some priority areas for the Partnership for Modernization, including innovative investment, trade and economy, technical regulations and standards, energy efficiency and climate change. Both sides 'exchanged concepts within the context of the Partnership of Modernization,' and 'have tasked coordinators of both sides to develop a work plan,' it said. The Rostov-on-Don summit was the first top-level meeting between Russia and the EU under the Lisbon Treaty. 