Articles

The New York Times. KALININGRAD, Russia — This is what passes for humor in Kaliningrad these days: Iskander missile tourism. Dipping deep into his reservoir of black humor, Vladimir N. Abramov tries out this sales pitch for his region, a cold war garrison turned European trade hub that may, once again, become a staging ground for missiles pointed west.

Economist.com. THE European Union is finding itself in unfamiliar territory with Russia. Its trouble stems, unusually, from having been too clear and overly united in its demands towards its eastern neighbour. This dates from just after the August war in Georgia, when the Europeans were desperate to press Russia to remove its tanks and men from the country. The leaders of all 27 EU countries met at an emergency summit on September 1st, and—breaking with their normal habits of mudge and fudge—issued an admirably limpid demand, backed by a crystal-clear condition.

Los Angeles Times. By Elizabeth Kolbert

Last week, nearly 150 reporters from around the world converged on the tiny German town of Deutschneudorf to hear an announcement by the mayor, Heinz-Peter Haustein, who is also a member of Parliament and, in his spare time, a treasure hunter.

The Times. Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad was the land that time forgot a decade ago, isolated in Europe and with its economy devastated by the collapse of the Soviet Union.

International Herald Tribune.

By Paddy Ashdown

The relationship between the European Union and Russia has been going through a particularly bad patch lately, with disputes over Kosovo, missiles and energy. Trumping all these, however, is the standoff over the Litvinenko affair - initially a dispute between Britain and Russia - which has been taken up by the European Union. The bilateral problems of Poland, Estonia and Lithuania with Russia have also been taken up by the European Union in a growing sense of solidarity.

Oil & Gas Eurasia. The third and the last day of the 5th Petroleum and Gas Congress held alongside the 9th MIOGE exhibition in Moscow was marked by the strong message sent by EU officials and European companies: Russia is and will remain Europe’s most important strategic partner in the energy sector for years to come.

The meeting was highlighted by the speech of Christian Cleutinx, Eurocommission’s Director General for Energy. “There is a lot of optimism for the future,” he said referring to the potential of Russia’s cooperation with the EU. “We were pleased when President Putin confirmed the EU’s energy demand would be covered by Russian supplies; the EU-Russia energy dialog is extremely important for us.”

The Guardian. Private equity and hedge funds would be banned from taking over the gas and electricity networks of huge energy groups unless they met strict investment targets under crucial proposals for the entire EU to be adopted by MEPs later today, the Guardian has learned.

The Sunday Telegraph. By Bojan Pancevski, Gethin Chamberlain and Nadia Popova in Moscow

Kommersant. Washington criticized on Friday Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov for the threats to deploy missiles in Russia's Kaliningrad region if the U.S. makes no concessions in the missile defense issue. The U.S. Department of State and the White House made it clear that ultimatums do not help solve the dispute. It might mean the U.S. is ready to come to terms with Russia, but on conditions different from those suggested by Moscow. Meanwhile, Ivanov’s threats alarmed Europe.

Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Wednesday in Uzbekistan: “If the United States accepts our offers, we will no longer need to deploy more missiles in Russia’s European part, including Kaliningrad.”