Brussels, 02/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Relations between the European Union and Russia will be high on the agenda of EU foreign ministers in Sopot, Poland, on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 September. European Parliament (EP) President Jerzy Buzek has suggested setting up an “energy Schengen with Russia, and also with Central Asia and North Africa”. Such a project would also involve Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
Polish Secretary of State for European Affairs Mikolaj Dowgielewicz said he supported “new forms of cooperation between the European Union and Russia to boost trade between us”. The Polish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers is also promoting cross-border mobility between the enclave of Kaliningrad and the EU, “the idea being to move towards a horizontal trade agreement”, said Dowgielewicz.
At a previous meeting of the Polish and Russian governments, Bronislaw Komorowski and Dmitri Medvedev reached the same conclusion: “Politics and the economy have to be separated”. One of the aims of the Polish Presidency is to bring the other members of the European Union to accept this premise. (V.W./transl.rt)