Brussels, 06/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Iukos affair and the situation in Chechnya dominated the press conference at the end of the twelfth EU/Russia summit on Thursday in Rome, which was attended by Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, Silvio Berlusconi, President of the European Council, Javier Solana, EU High Representative for CFSP and Vladimir Putin President of Russia. At the end of the summit, the EU and Russia adopted a joint declaration on which EUROPE will return in detail.
Romano Prodi was the first to mention the affair involving the Iukos oil company (the Head of which has been charged with fraud and arrested in Moscow: Editor's note) indicating that Russia had "reassured the EU". "Mr Putin has assured us that the law will be applied fairly", he declared answering journalists' questions that focused on human rights in Chechnya, two subjects carefully avoided by Messrs Berlusconi and Putin. Silvio Berlusconi thought that the EU and the international press shared different views. Mr Berlusconi made a parallel between the situation in the media in Italy, with the international press determined to write that the Italian press was threatened and uncritical of the Italian government. He denied this categorically and said that this also applied to Russia where there was a desire to fight against corruption. He said that he was worried about the international press continuing to insinuate that this action (arrest of Iukos boss) was against the State of Law. On the subject of Chechnya where elections took place democratically and where the EU had not felt the need to send observers, Mr Berlusconi said that the did not understand how this situation could be understood so badly. He concluded by expressing a wish that these ideas were put a stop to and then handed over to the Russian President. The latter, backed up fully by Mr Berlusconi boasted of serious changes in Chechnya and mentioned the referendum and elections, dialogue with "all political segments" and the preparation of parliamentary elections. Mr Putin considered that they should not focus on Chechnya, declaring that there were human right problems in the whole world and not in a single region.
In Mr Putin's view, the Iukos affair in no way involves a change of policy in Russia. He assured their aim was not to take it out on individuals but to establish order in their country. He said that they would do it in a coherent and flexible manner without considering the attempts of any individuals to defend themselves even by blackmail. The attempts at blackmail against the authority of the State, he said, will fail.
Police and scientific cooperation agreements
On the fringe of the Summit, the EU and Russia signed two agreements: one in the field of the fight against organised crime and the other in the field of scientific and technological cooperation.
The Russian Foreign Minster, Igor Ivanov, and Europol Director Jürgen Storbeck signed, on Thursday after the Summit, an agreement strengthening cooperation between the EU and Russia in the field of the fight against organised crime. In a press release, Europol notes there has been a rise in organised crime in Eastern Europe over recent years and links between Russian organised crime and European criminal groups. This is why, thanks to an agreement, Europol and the Russian authorities concerned will exchange strategic and technical information to combat all forms of organised crime (drug trafficking and people trafficking, illegal immigration, money laundering and terrorism).
Singing an agreement to renew their agreement on scientific and technological cooperation, the EU and Russia decided to intensify their cooperation in various fields such as biomedicine, health, the environment, climate, non-nuclear energy, the information society, the social sciences, training and mobility of scientists. The agreement will allow Russian scientists to take part in the sixth EU framework programme for research and development.