Stockholm, 23/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - At the close of the meeting between the participants at the European Council and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Stockholm Summit, Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson stressed that this was the first discussion of this kind ever held by the Russian President. He pointed out that the Fifteen had, in expressing their concern for the situation in Chechnya, recalled that the partnership between the EU and Russia must be based on common values (see other article). We hope to integrate Russia in European structures, said President Putin. He agreed that this requires that Moscow should follow along the road towards economic and administrative reform. Mr Putin added that, in Stockholm, the Fifteen affirmed their support for Russia's membership to the WTO. Russia must meet certain criteria to enter the World Trade Organisation, and the best preparation is to continue the structural reform of its economy, said Mr. Persson, noting that there was still too little trade between "the huge Russia and a growing Europe". "We agreed that a special push was needed in seeking solutions to trade disputes that remain open", Mr. Persson went on.
The President of the European Council also announced that the Fifteen had decided in Stockholm that the EIB should finance environmental projects in Russia - which, according to him, is an "important breakthrough". "We are thus providing concrete content to the "EU's Nordic dimension", taken into account since the Finnish Presidency," said Persson, who also indicated that the European Council had decided that the EU would participate in the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg. This is particularly important for a Swedish President, when one remembers that this city was built "to stop the Swedes", he remarked. It may be said that St Petersburg was built "to open a window onto Europe", noted Mr. Putin, for his part, stressing that is was one of the "most European cities", built with the "best talents" Europe had.
Speaking to the press, Mr. Putin placed special emphasis on: - the dialogue with the EU over energy: Putin stressed that it was a question of both providing Europe with energy and developing the Russian energy industry through European investments. Mr. Prodi told us what his expectations were, and we shall do what is needed to respond to them, he said. Furthermore, he felt that cooperation should extend to the technological field and infrastructure; - Russian accession to the WTO: Russia does not want any preferential treatment, but does not want to be asked to do something special compared to other countries, asserted Mr Putin, who warned that the imposition of anti-dumping duties has cost Russia USD 2.5 billion over the last years; - the effects of EU enlargement for Russia: in particular, the Russian President, who considers the enlargement process positive, raised the issue of Kaliningrad, which will become a Russian enclave in the EU, by noting that it will be necessary to resolve the problem of transit in particular. The EU presently represents 35% of Russian foreign trade, and after enlargement this will be 50%, noted Mr Putin.
The Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt had a bilateral meeting with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, during which he broached the subject of the future summit between the European Union and Russia, which will take place on 3 October in Brussels under the Belgian Presidency. To the request of the Russian President, Mr Verhofstadt agreed to include in the agenda an exchange programme between Russian and European scientists. The Summit should concentrate on issues such as the clarification of relations between the European defence identity and the Russian Federation, the economic relations between Russia and the EU and the development of the 1994 partnership agreement. I clearly felt that the Russian President adopted a more positive attitude with regards to enlargement, underlined Mr Verhofstadt. He recalled that the EU 15 have invited Russia to continue reforms in order to make itself more attractive with regards to foreign investors.