Moscow/Brussels - Russia and the European Union are about to
relaunch talks on a wide-ranging political pact, shocking relations
out of an 18-months paralysis on issues ranging from energy to trade
regulations.
The EU's 27 member states agreed on a mandate to replace an
expired partnership agreement last months, overcoming successive
objections from Poland and Lithuania in time for the summit in the
Siberian city of Khanty Mansiysk on June 26-27.
'One of the deliverables will be a political kick-start to
negotiations on a future basic treaty,' Russia's envoy to the EU
Vladimir Chizhov said in Brussels on Monday.
A host of prickly issues could show quills during talks, but for
both sides the summit will primarily be about testing the political
will for compromise with no deadline in sight on reaching a new
agreement.
Mandate in hand, the EU is keen on hearing whether Russia's new
President Dmitry Medvedev will strike a softer line than his
predecessor Vladimir Putin, who has been antagonistic over US missile
defence plans, energy issues and Kosovo.
Despite such hard issues on the agenda including the so-called
frozen conflict in Georgia, Medvedev painted an optimistic vision of
a new 'Euro-Atlantic space from Vancouver to Vladivostok' in his
first major foreign policy speech in Berlin.
EU external relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner lifted
hope from Medvedev's speeches in his 'particular emphasis on the rule
of law, human rights, democracy and also the modernisation of the
economy,' she said in Moscow earlier this month.
Ferrero and other EU officials' designs to hold Medvedev to his
promises could raise hackles in Russia, which has traditionally
rebelled against criticism of a roll-back of democratic reforms under
Putin.
Putin in his new role as premier has warned Western partners not
to think working with Medvedev 'will be any easier.'
Chizhov on Monday made it clear that Russia would be no less
adamant in its opposition to EU support for Kosovo's independence and
US plans to site elements of a missile defence base in Poland and the
Czech Republic.
'We have a question to ask: How does it come about that two EU
member states are conducting negotiations with a third country (the
United States) on missile defence behind the backs of their EU
partners,' Russia's ambassador to the EU said.
Ahead of the summit, leaders in both camps saw the danger that
EU-Russian relations could unravel in favour of bilateral ties,
whether economically beneficial or politically sour.
It is a sign for Russia that it is premature to deal with the EU
leadership when member countries use this dialogue to advance their
own political interests, a Kremlin official said Tuesday.
Obstacles to new talks on a partnership agreement have been lodged
by the EU's new, post-Soviet member states, slow to reconcile their
political differences with Moscow.
But EU Trade Commisioner Peter Mandeslon speaking in Moscow last
week highlighted that Western Europe has also been quick to opt for
bilateral trade privileges over a common EU policy.
'Recent history,' he said, 'has produced zero-sum thinking on both
sides, an inclination to see much of the relationship ... as power.'
Inviting EU delegates to Khanty-Mansiisk, a town of barely 60,000
in Siberia central to Russia's oil industry was a symbolic choice as
energy questions dominate the summit's agenda, Russian officials said
Wednesday.
EU officials said they were open to Moscow's interest in
downstream investment in exchange for greater access to its vast
energy sector, which experts say is badly in need of foreign capital
and know-how to develop.
'Energy will be discussed in depth - don't forget what job the
president used to do,' one EU official said Tuesday referring to
Medvedev's chairmanship of energy giant Gazprom.
Despite praising the 'legal necessity' of achieving a new
agreement with the EU, Russian officials this week were unwilling to
cite a timeline.
Commenting on the foreign ministry's statements Tuesday, one radio
announcer for Ekho Moskvye summed it up: 'Russia gave the EU to
understand it wouldn't be upset if negotiations hit a dead-end.'
Russian officials said the schedule for EU talks made sure to
allow for Medvedev to watch Russia face Spain in the Euro 2008, and
perhaps the football will serve to break the ice as the two sides
settle down to negotiations at noon Friday.
USA
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