Viana do Castelo, 10/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - We will no doubt have to await the outcome of the Russian presidential elections in March 2008 to have a clearer idea of how the future “strategic partnership” that the European Union and Russia want could develop in the forthcoming years. It is also very unlikely that negotiations on a new strengthened agreement, currently blocked by the dispute over Polish meat, will begin before the summer of 2008. In the meantime, Europe wants to remain “firm and united” to remind Moscow that future relations with the EU will have to be based on common values, including democracy and the rule of law. One year ago, it was mainly the three Baltic states and the eastern European member states which were critical of the democratic deficit in Russia and the apparent imbalance in trade, energy and investment relations, but today all 27 member states are speaking with a single voice on these issues.
These are the main conclusions to be drawn from the strategic debate held by EU foreign ministers this weekend at their informal (“Gymnich”) meeting in Viana de Castelo. They agreed to maintain “unity” and “solidarity” among member states and to follow the example of the previous two summits with Russia (in Helsinki in November 2006, and in Samaara in May 2007), at which the EU spoke with one voice, particularly in support of Poland and Estonia in their respective conflicts with Moscow. There then followed very frank and direct exchanges with Vladimir Putin. The next summit, in Lisbon on 26 October, will be a “transition summit” because of the elections in Russia, and also because it will be President Putin's last. “We hope that, in spite of everything, it will be positive and constructive,” said EU High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana.
“The EU and Russia are interdependent,” strengthening of relations, then, was in the interests of both parties, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told press. With the volume of trade and investment between the two partners continuing to increase, there would also have to be a “healthy political basis” with common principles and values on which to base the future strategic partnership, she said. This comes at a time when Russia, thanks to its growing importance in energy, is flexing its muscles on the international stage with ever greater confidence and determination. “Russia is no longer the same,” also said French minister Bernard Kouchner. “It has changed. It has found an authority, an attitude, a language in the world which are not the same. This creates a problem we have to rise to,” he said.
While genuine “partnership” with Russia is still far off, the fact remains that great progress has been made in recent years for example with regard to the creation of “common spaces” with the EU, Ms Ferrero-Waldner stated. The fact that negotiations on a new agreement (to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement) were still deadlocked did not necessarily mean that relations had been suspended,the commissioner said. The current agreement will remain in force for as long as it takes to conclude the new one.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, who chaired the meeting at Viana do Castelo was not very optimistic about the start of negotiations on the new agreement. “For the moment, there is no sign” that the situation could be freed up in the short term (Poland has vetoed the start of talks because of the Russian import ban on Polish meat). Slovenia, the next country to hold the rotating EU presidency, will probably inherit the issue. This is the impression given by Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga. “We greatly appreciate the solidarity shown by the other member states. The Russian ban is purely political. Moscow has to see that the EU is consistent when it says that there is solidarity between member states, her spokesman said. Warsaw has no intention of moving as long as the ban is in place, which, given that Russia is in the middle of an electoral campaign, means that negotiations on the EU-Russia agreement are unlikely to begin before 2008. “We have to be patient,” Ms Fotyga's spokesman said. To win the argument, Poland is also pushing the EU to use its international influence to prevent Russia's joining the World Trade Organisation. (hb)