01/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - Javier Solana invited to the Finnish Institute for International Relations, declared in an interview in the Helsingin Sanomat on 26 February that Russia should accept that the European Union is taking on new members from the former Eastern Block and that these countries will have the same rights as the so-called old Member States. Russia fears that its main economic partners will cancel bilateral agreements with it, which has increased tension between the EU and Moscow. Javier Solana has pointed out the beneficial effects in the long term of this enlargement for Russia (a European market of almost 500 million people) even if he concedes that in the short term that enlargement could have a negative impact. The High Representative for CFSP also underlined the importance of multilateral cooperation, and that not even the world's most powerful country cold solve "today's most difficult challenges alone".