Canach (Luxembourg), 15/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EU on Friday failed to arrive at a tangible agreement with Russia on the readmission of illegals who transited through Russian territory before reaching the European Union. The EU is dedicated to achieving this agreement, and has shown itself ready, in return, to facilitate obtaining visas for certain categories of people, and to get rid of them altogether in certain conditions for diplomats. The three weeks leading up to the EU-Russia Summit on 10 May will be busy ones for the negotiators trying to reach an agreement, European diplomats recognised following the EU-Russia ministerial troika which examined the matter on Friday in Canach, near the capital of Luxembourg. The discussions were "lively" and "we aren't quite there yet", admitted the advisor to the Russian President, Viktor Ivanov, following the discussions, whereas the Luxembourg Justice Minister Luc Frieden preferred to limit himself to confirming that there had been "Considerable progress". "We are preparing to bring our positions closer", said Mr Ivanov, who was accompanied by the Ministers for the Interior Rashid Nurgaliev and Justice Yuri Chaika.
Discussions on the issue of the readmission of third country nationals by Russia will continue. The EU is prepared to accept "different methods for different categories", declared Mr Frieden. In real terms, the EU is prepared to give Russia extra time to readmit third country nationals, on the condition that it accepts the principle immediately, with a specific timetable. Russia would for its part like to get out of this part of the agreement, or to put it off as much as possible. It insists on the need to sign readmission agreements with its own neighbours, and on the time it would need to build new infrastructures. "This could be done in a first stage for Russian citizens, for the moment that does not concern citizens of third countries", Viktor Ivanov declared. Mr Ivanov said that Russia had "the political will" to reach an agreement on readmission. "In political terms, we are prepared to sign agreements in one way or another", he indicated. But Russia has gone as far as demanding that checks be carried out to ensure the compatibility of a readmission agreement with the European Convention on Human Rights. To cut short this delaying tactic as quickly as possible, the European side hopes to have technical discussions starting next week to rule out this argument.
Russia has insisted since the start of discussions on visa exemptions for its diplomats, a European source indicates, confirming that the EU is prepared to accept that, on condition of achieving a satisfactory agreement on readmission. "We are insisting that these dossiers (visas and readmission) develop in parallel", said Luc Frieden. "We do not want to link this to readmission", Mr Ivanov stated rather predictably. "We are talking about facilitating visas, and about the long-term prospects of liberalising visas", indicated European Commissioner Franco Frattini. Mr Ivanov mentioned facilitating matters for "diplomats, scientists, spouses, young people's exchanges".
On the subject of terrorism, the Presidency and the European Commission took great care only to mention the operational part of the dossier in the press conference, not the very sensitive issues such as Chechnya. Asked about differences of opinion between Europe and Russia on the definition of terrorism, Mr Frieden only declared that "it is clear for the two parties that the fight against international terrorism must respect the rules of international law and human rights". "We have not today discussed the means of cooperating, and we have not discussed terrorism from one particular country or another ", he acknowledged. Mr Ivanov launched into a long self-justification of Russian policy in Chechnya.
After the press conference, the discussions were due to continue in a working lunch.