Brussels, 16/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - Relations between the EU and Russia remain tense, even after the withdrawal of Russian troops from areas bordering on South Ossetia and Abkhazia. At the European Council in Brussels on Thursday, EU heads of state failed to reach agreement on when talks with Moscow should resume over a new, reinforced partnership agreement with the EU. The talks started in July 2007 but were suspended by the special European summit on 1 September after Russia's military incursions into Georgia in August. Europe's leaders agreed on Thursday to await the full, in-depth assessment of EU-Russian relations that the European Commission is carrying out and is expected to publish ahead of the 14 November 2008 meeting with Russia in Nice, France. The Commission's review will be taken into account when it comes to the resumption of negotiations over a new partnership agreement with Russia, explains the European Council conclusions document (the full document can be found at the end of this issue of the newsletter), and it is therefore highly unlikely that the EU will make any decisions on the partnership agreement negotiations before the Nice summit. According to EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, the negotiations will resume when the Council and Commission's review of EU-Russian relations is finished. He said, however, that he hoped talks could resume before 14 November 2008. Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, told reporters he was certain the talks could resume straight after the summit in Nice and it would be a mistake to postpone it any longer because the EU should not allow the future partnership agreement to be held hostage by a handful of Member States which are highly critical of Russia.
The Member States he was referring to, which are highly critical of Russia, are Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The French Presidency of the EU and the majority of Member States believe that Russia has now complied with condition set by the EU for resuming negotiations over a new partnership agreement with the EU, namely that Russia withdraws its troops to their positions before 7 August 2008. The leaders of the other eight countries, however, argue that simply withdrawing troops from the regions bordering on South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not enough (their foreign ministers argued this at the 13 October 2008 External Relations Council, see EUROPE 9760). The eight won out in the end because in the conclusions document published on Thursday, the European Council hails the withdrawal of Russian troops from the areas bordering on South Ossetia and Abkhazia but describes it as no more than an essential extra step in the implementation of the 12 August and 8 September agreements. By postponing the resumption of the negotiations, the eight countries want to put pressure on Russia to force it to seriously commit to the international talks on security and stability in South Ossetia and Abkhazia that got off to a very painful start in Geneva, Switzerland, on 15 October 2008. The opening of the talks was cut short in Geneva on Wednesday when Georgians and Russians refused to be in the plenary together. On Thursday, Europe's leaders played down this incident, with Nicolas Sarkozy saying on Wednesday evening that it would have been highly astonishing for this not to have happened. Sarkozy added that it was only two months after the conflict in Georgia and that he was sure a painful period would ensue but that was not a good reason for giving up. The talks are scheduled to continue on 18 November 2008.
Neighbourhood Policy. The European Council on Thursday repeated the EU's determination to make use of the European Neighbourhood Policy to back the EU's eastern neighbours in their democratisation and economic modernisation. In the conclusions document adopted on Thursday, European leaders called for a boosting of the EU's relations with Moldova and Georgia as set out in the conclusions document of the 13 October 2008 External Relations Council (see EUROPE 9760). The EU27 asks the Council of examine the ideas for a future 'Eastern partnership' to be unveiled by the Commission in November 2008. (H.B. trans fl)