Brussels, 26/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - Russia would prefer to have a “strategic partnership” with the European Union as a whole, but could, in future, give greater priority to bilateral relations with the “most motivated” of the 27 member states, if new member countries like Poland and the Baltic states prevent the EU from conducting a more ambitious policy with regard to Moscow. That did not mean that Russia was seeking to “divide” the EU, said Russian Ambassador to the EU in Brussels Vladimir Chizhov, in an interview with EUROPE. “The claim that Russia is trying to divide the EU has nothing to do with reality. On the contrary, we want to see a common line of the EU in its relations towards Russia: a line of strategic partnership”.
The problem, the ambassador went on, was that the EU position was based on consensus. This meant that EU-Russia relations depended on the good will of each of the 27 member countries, including the new Central and Eastern European countries, some of which still had anti-Russian “phobias” dating back to the cold war, and sometimes even to the 19th century. “The EU common position should not be the lowest common denominator of 27 positions. It should be a forward-driven position, driven by those countries that are most interested in strengthening the EU-Russian relationship. Unfortunately, what we see now is that the principle of consensus works in a different way. The speed of the caravan is the speed of the slowest camel.” He added: “If the new members continue to open old wounds of centuries ago -
and unfortunately we see expressions of that - it would not be possible to establish a forward-looking strategic partnership”.
Estonia and Poland targeted. Ambassador Chizhov gave several examples: the Nordstream project (a German-Russian gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea), for example, where Estonia has refused to allow the consortium access to its maritime economic zone to carry out environmental studies. “The Estonian government's refusal runs contrary to the official EU position which has repeatedly stated that the Nordstream project is a positive contribution to European energy security”. So what, he wondered, does “European solidarity”, so often invoked by the EU to speak with a single voice in defence of the specific interests of its member states with regard to Moscow, mean? “Would it mean that the 26 other member states have to raise their hands and say: if Estonia says so, we have to follow? Or does it mean that the others work with Estonia in order to convince it to reverse its position into a more constructive approach? This remains to be seen”. Another new member country singled out by Moscow is Poland. The Russian ban on exports of Polish meat has been “deliberately over-politicised” by Warsaw, which has linked it with the opening of negotiations on a new EU-Russian cooperation agreement (see below). Poland had made it into an artificial political problem, when it was a public heath issue: “It's a technical issue. By nature, an issue of public health. There shouldn't have been any political dimension. Unfortunately, the Polish authorities choose to deliberately politicise it”.
EU-Russia relations had become “more complicated” since the 2004 and 2007 enlargements, said the Russian ambassador. “Some, but not all” of the new Central and Eastern European member countries “misuse” European solidarity to slow down or limit the development of relations with Russia. Chizhov would, therefore, like to see “the most experienced leading states” make better use of their political clout and the “majority” they have in the Council to correct this imbalance.
Or what? If the EU was unable to agree quickly on an ambitious strategy with regard to Russia, “some people in Moscow might say: what is the added value of dealing with the EU when it is dragging its feet? Why don't we shift our attention to promoting bilateral relations? It's one of the many schools of thought”. For the moment, he said, Moscow considered the two approaches (EU and bilateral relations) to be “complementary”.
Prospects of break in deadlock on new partnership agreement? The opening of negotiations on a new partnership agreement to replace the current partnership and cooperation agreement is still being blocked by Poland, which is calling for the Russian ban on its meat exports to be lifted. To link this issue with the new agreement with the EU was unacceptable, since the Russian ban was completely justified, said the Russian ambassador, noting that “Russian standards in the veterinary and phytosanitary field appear to be stricter than those in the EU” and that Poland's export control system towards Russia “is not working properly”.
Hence, the Russian proposal - rejected until now by the European Commission - to send Russian veterinary experts to Poland to check and certify each of the production sites seeking to export meat to Russia. Mr Chizhov said: “Russia made a proposal back in April, and if accepted, it would have solved the issue”. Moscow intends to remain firm and “as it is not a political problem” the EU cannot hope for the Russian position to change after December's parliamentary elections or the presidential elections in March 2008, explained the ambassador. Mr Chizhov says, however, that he is optimistic about a technical solution being found: “technical talks with the European Commission are moving forward on a good basis”. Another meeting is planned for the beginning of October in Brussels. Chizhov affirmed that in the meantime, Russia is still prepared to launch negotiations on the new agreement “at any time”. He also said that he was “broadly satisfied” with progress on the work for creating the EU-Russia common spaces.
Kosovo. On the question regarding the future status of Kosovo, Chizhov noted that “the EU is not very united” but refused to speculate on the impact of a possible failure in the efforts of the international Troika (EU, US, Russia) on EU-Russia relations. In the search for a negotiated settlement he asserted: “At this point, Belgrade is showing more flexibility than Pristina”. Chizhov explained that “a unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence is not the course of events that we would favour, which is a clear signal that Russia is not aiming at splitting the EU, because in that event, the EU would be divided on the question of recognition”. (hb)