Avignon, France - The European Union must push for closer
ties with Belarus and Georgia and conflict resolution in Moldova if
it is to counter Russia's growing assertiveness in eastern Europe, EU
foreign ministers said Saturday.
'It is a very good time to rethink our relations with Belarus.
Belarus is sending desperate signals to the West,' Lithuanian Foreign
Minister Petras Vaitiekunas told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
'It's Russia and Georgia, it's Belarus also, but on the whole it's
a question of regional development,' EU foreign-affairs commissioner
Benita Ferrero-Waldner said as the second day of the informal meeting
of EU foreign ministers in the French town of Avignon opened.
Officially, Saturday's talks were set to focus on the EU's
relationship with Russia and Georgia following their war in August.
But with French President Nicolas Sarkozy - the current holder of
the EU's rotating presidency - set to travel to Moscow for talks on
the issue on Monday, the ministers turned their focus to the question
of how to respond to Russia's new assertiveness.
'It's important that Russia respects the fundamental principles
that it says it has committed to. Those are about respecting
territorial integrity, democratic governance and international
law,' British foreign minister David Miliband said.
In particular, they were expected to discuss the bloc's
relationship with Belarus. The authoritarian regime of President
Alexander Lukashenko is currently the target of EU sanctions, but
following the regime's release of all political prisoners over the
summer, some member states are calling for the lifting of sanctions.
'I hope we can give a positive response to a positive
decision,' EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana said.
However, member states remained divided on whether they should
make a move before Belarus holds elections on September 28.
'It would be good to send some signals now, and in case of
democratic free and fair elections to change (the EU's) general
policies,' Vaitiekunas said.
'We'll have to have a look at that at a later stage,' Finnish
Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said.
EU officials say that a key question is whether Belarus will
follow Russia's lead and recognize the independence of the breakaway
Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia - something the EU
firmly rejects.
'Belarus can show real willingness to open up, move closer to
Western Europe if they do not also recognize South Ossetia and
Abkhazia. But of course Belarus at the moment is under very heavy
pressure from Russia,' Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said.
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