captain. wrote:
> - this has probably already been posted in some form here but here is
the
> st.pete times version:
>
> Talks With EU Stall Due to Lithuanian Veto
> http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=25803
>
> MOSCOW/BRUSSELS - European Union efforts to agree a long-delayed mandate
for
> partner****p negotiations with Russia stalled again on Thursday despite a
> prediction of imminent agreement from Luxembourg's prime minister.
>
> Diplomats said Lithuania maintained its veto on starting the talks to
demand
> assurances on energy supplies, cooperation over a missing businessman
and
> Russian movement on frozen conflicts in former Soviet republics.
>
> Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said in Moscow he expected
the
> 27-nation EU would overcome 18 months of internal divisions and agree to
> start talks on a new partner****p deal with Russia within days.
>
> "I do know that in Poland, in Lithuania, maybe elsewhere, there are
great or
> small reluctancies, but I think that these will be sorted out in the
next
> coming days," Juncker said in an interview before talks with Russian
> President Vladimir Putin.
>
> However, diplomats in Brussels said no progress was seen at a meeting of
EU
> ambassadors on Thursday and there was scant prospect of the bloc's
foreign
> ministers breaking the deadlock when they meet next Tuesday.
>
> "It could take until June," one EU diplomat said, predicting the mandate
may
> be approved just in time for an EU-Russia summit with President-elect
Dmitry
> Medvedev in Siberia on June 26-27.
>
> Russia's ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, voiced concern last
week
> that the EU was allowing the negotiations to be taken hostage by new
member
> states that were once Soviet satellites and bore a grudge against
Moscow.
Plenty of people here have a grudge against Moscow.
I started to make a list.
Lets see how many posters are left after a while and what countries they
come from.
Are half of the posters in this group decent regardless of country of
origin or is there a difference?
My moral is: You kick my ass, I kick yours. You don't insult me in any
way and I won't insult you either.
If you give a hand I will help you too if I can.
I swill know after a few weeks
>
> The negotiations, covering trade, economic development, energy, human
rights
> and political cooperation, were due to have been launched in November
2006
> but Poland vetoed the mandate after Moscow barred im****ts of fresh food
> products from Warsaw.
>
> Poland recently dropped its reservation after Russia lifted the embargo.
>
> But Lithuania has widened its concerns from a cut-off of Russian oil
> supplies to its refinery, to the disappearance of a businessman in the
> Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's relations with the ex-Soviet
> republics of Georgia and Moldova.
>
> Juncker is the longest-serving prime minister within the EU and is
> considered a crucial player amongst the exclusive club of 27 leaders. He
is
> also the chairman of the euro-zone group of finance ministers.
>
> "I do think that the European Union and Russia do need the strategic
> partner****p and I would like the negotiations to take a real start under
the
> Slovenian presidency," Juncker said, referring to the current holder of
the
> EU's rotating presidency.
>
> Juncker said he had a good working relation****p with Putin and had been
> invited to meet his successor, Medvedev, who will be sworn in as Russian
> President on May 7. Putin is expected to serve as his prime minister.
>
> "My impression is Mr. Putin did a good job in the sense that he was
> stabilizing Russia and the Russian state and I am among those who are
> grateful to him for having done this," he said.
>
> Medvedev said they must discuss both security issues and the new
partner****p
> deal.
>
> "We live in a single, European home. We have much to talk about, both in
> this area, on the question of signing a new agreement, and ensuring
European
> security," Medvedev said.
>
> When he then met Putin, Juncker said he believed in the im****tance of
> linking Russia to Europe.
>
> "I have always believed that Russia is a part of the European
architecture
> and I was always certain that we need a strategic partner****p," Juncker
told
> Putin.
>
> "After my lengthy meeting with the president-elect, I am absolutely sure
> there will be continuity in our relations."
>
>
|
