Polish veto mars EU-Russia summit
By Kathy Sweenie,WNS Finland Correspondent
HELSINKI - Top officials from the European Union are about to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a summit in the Finnish capital Helsinki. But a Polish veto means the EU-Russia summit will not see the beginning of talks on a new strategic partnership. Poland is upset at a Russian embargo on its meat and plant products introduced a year ago. It is the first time that one of the 10 countries that joined in 2004 has blocked such an important EU agreement. Talks about a new strategic agreement between the EU and Russia - covering energy, migration, trade and human rights - were to have been a key part of the meeting.
Despite nearly two weeks of lobbying from the other 24 members of the EU, Poland refused to put aside its objections to the Russian boycott of its farm products. On the eve of the summit, EU leaders came out in support of Poland. "We were ready to state in very clear terms that the Russian ban on certain Polish food should be lifted as soon as possible," said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. Finland currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU. Mr Putin blamed Poland for the situation, saying authorities were not willing to properly supervise other countries' meat products transiting through Poland. He threatened a new ban on all EU meat products from January when Romania and Bulgaria join the bloc. EU officials played down the situation. "This is a question that will be resolved," said the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "There's no question about that, it's not a big thing. It's a question of import of meat that without any doubt will be resolved." Officials from both sides have said the existing partnership agreement, which expires at the end of the year, could be extended as required. There is still much for Russia and the EU to discuss - Iran, the Middle East, North Korea and energy policy. There is also Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization and concerns over Georgia.
Europe is worried about its dependence on Russian energy. About 30% of its gas comes from Russia. It was almost a year ago that Russia briefly cut the gas supply to Ukraine, in a dispute over prices, sending a shockwave through the whole of the EU. And the EU also wants reassurance from Russia that it will secure the necessary investment to enable it to meet its future export commitments, so that the flow of oil and gas does not dwindle in the coming decades.
posted by wnsworld @ 7:10 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home