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EU ministers give go-ahead for talks with Russia
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-26 20:27 BRUSSELS - European foreign ministers on Monday gave the formal go-ahead to start EU-Russia talks on a new partnership accord, ending an almost two-year impasse, the EU's Slovenian presidency said.
The green light was given, without the need for discussion, at the start of ministerial talks in Brussels. Negotiations on the accord will be formally launched at an EU-Russia summit in Siberia on June 26-27, when new President Dmitry Medvedev will represent Russia for the first time. The talks "will benefit the EU and Russia," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "When you have a neighbour which is an important neighbour with which we have a lot of business and trade, and in energy and many things, it's good to have a fundamental, stable relationship for many years". The agreement was made possible after Lithuania, the last member-state blocking the talks, was persuaded that its grievances over Russian energy supplies and Moscow's stance on Georgia would be addressed. The EU ministers were able to give their formal blessing after weeks of talks between Lithuania and its fellow member-states at ambassadorial level led to a political deal being reached last week among the 27 EU nations. The EU has been trying to update the existing accord -- a framework for Brussels-Moscow relations which is more than a decade old -- to take into account modern geopolitical and economic realities. Fresh EU-Russia negotiations are also deemed key to improving relations, which soured under former president, now prime minister, Vladimir Putin as well as ensuring a reliable energy supply from Russia and reviewing human rights. Any EU member can veto the start of such talks and they had been blocked first by Poland and latterly by Lithuania. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, speaking in Brussels before the EU meeting got underway, summed up the view of many that the talks mandate did not mean plain sailing ahead. "There will inevitably be problems," he said of the talks, which are expected to be lengthy. The final partnership agreement "should provide some legally-binding commitments in all main areas of the relationship," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. |
