International Herald Tribune. Moscow Two European Union bodies recently issued similar documents calling for a revision of the EU's policy toward Russia. One of them contained recommendations prepared by the European Parliament's committee on foreign affairs for the European Council. The other was prepared by the European Commission.

The documents coincide in their analyses and recommendations. Both put special emphasis on the deterioration of political freedom and democracy in Russia, on the situation in Chechnya and on human rights. Though they acknowledge progress on the economy, they question whether it is stable.

They list a series of other criticisms: Russia's balking at ratifying the Kyoto Protocol or the European Energy Charter; Russia's unwillingness to fix final borders with Estonia and Latvia until they guarantee the rights of ethnic minorities; Russia's reluctance to automatically extend the 1994 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to the 10 new members of the European Union. The documents also contain an ultimatum for Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia and the Transdniester in Moldova.

The documents further demand that Russia phase out its first-generation nuclear reactors as a precondition for potential cooperation in power engineering. The EU is urged to cut aid to Russia and channel these funds for technical renovation of the common borders in order to strengthen them.

Some of the criticism is reasonable. In particular, the Russian practice of levying valued-added tax on technical and humanitarian aid is a challenge to common sense.

On the whole, however, the documents are written in a harsh and sometimes provocative tone and call for a tougher EU policy toward Russia. I did not find in the documents even the slightest reciprocal steps that would take Russia's interests into consideration - not as the EU sees them, but as Russia sees them.

My first reaction - and I am one of the most pro-European members of Russia's political and intellectual class - was surprise and a desire to give a scornful response to the arrogant tone of the documents. I recalled a line from Alexander Blok, perhaps the most pro-European of Russian poets: "In front of pretty Europe/ We will spread out! We'll turn to you/ With our Asian muzzles."

I was amazed by the coincidence of the EU demands to pressure and distance Russia with the longing of Russian isolationists to shut the country off from the world and to build "Juche capitalism" in one country. As in cold war times, the worst elements of the elites are playing into each other's hands.

But we have to try to understand the position of fellow Europeans and what is behind documents that almost proclaim a new strategy of pseudo-deterrence.

It is fairly obvious that many in Europe, as in our country, are disturbed by the recent tendencies in Russian policies - the shift toward a de facto one-party system, the selective application of the law, the calls to re-examine privatization, the reduction in the freedom of expression, especially in the electronic media. True, these people ignore the fact that Russia is just emerging from a difficult revolution.

A gap in values cannot be ignored, however. If Russia develops in a normal way, it will partly overcome such a gap, but probably not completely. After all, a united Europe is now passing to a post-European system of values, abandoning rationalism and the readiness to question everything in favor of a stifling new political correctness and like-mindedness; renouncing individualism in favor of compromise and collectivism, and economic liberalism in favor of socialism (fortunately, not Soviet-style socialism).

Considering its history and geographical location, Russia should not give up its longing to accept traditional European values. But when someone demands that we immediately accept the values that contemporary Europe has worked out over the last few decades, when it was developing in greenhouse conditions under the shelter of the United States, this is either thoughtlessness or dangerous hypocrisy.

That does not mean that most thinking, responsible Russians are not worried about their country's tendencies. Where the country is headed is an open question. Perhaps Russia's Western neighbors know that it is doomed and believe that they can write it off and isolate themselves from the potentially wounded giant.

On the other hand, the documents may be an expression of a kind of "revolt on the knees," similar to the shameful propensity of some Russian policymakers to vent feeling of powerlessness and humiliation on small former Soviet countries.

The building of a common EU foreign and defense policy has obviously reached an impasse, as the United States consistently and unceremoniously highlights. Perhaps it is to prove the viability of its unviable policies that the EU wants to suppress Russia.

I fully understand Europeans' hostility to Moscow's harsh and ineffective methods in suppressing separatism and terrorism in Chechnya. But Russia, to become a credible state and not to disintegrate, cannot get out of Chechnya yet. I believe that Russia must seek ways of settling the Chechen situation as energetically as possible, perhaps through intermediaries. But when the European Union makes Chechnya the central issue in its dialogue with Russia, I regard that as hypocrisy or as an attempt to gather trump cards for bargaining. Then any desire to involve Europeans vanishes.

I don't want to believe that Europe is returning to the worst of its "traditional values." It has already been accused of reviving anti-Semitism. Is Russophobia also coming back? Or are EU legislators and officials simply driving a hard bargain? If the latter is the case, however, the EU ultimatum makes concessions and compromise hard to achieve, if not impossible.

Having outlasted the cold war, I wouldn't wish to begin a farcical one, especially one that would divert resources from the solution of real problems and cause opportunities to be missed, with heavy losses on both sides. I hope that common sense and rationalism will prevail, that we will understand that many of the Europeans' concerns and fears are real and justified, and that our Western neighbors will understand that ultimatums not only create a humorous impression but can have unpleasant consequences for all.

To recall another line from Alexander Blok, I believe that "sharp Gallic sense and gloomy Teutonic genius," so respected by Russians, will triumph and not be defeated by the new political correctness. (Sergei Karaganov, chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy and deputy director of the Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences).

   

A chill wind is blowing toward Russia, emanating from Brussels.  Whether it will turn out to herald a fresh springtime for EU-Russian relations or else deepen into political permafrost remains to be seen; as always with Russia the auguries are hard to interpret.  But there has certainly been a sharpening of tone in the language adopted by the Commission recently.  Compare “The European Union welcomes Russia's return to its rightful place in the European family in a spirit of friendship, cooperation, fair accommodation of interests and on the foundations of shared values enshrined in the common heritage of European civilization” from the preamble to the ‘Common Strategy of the EU on Russia’, adopted in June 1999, with “[The] EU [should] engage with Russia to build a genuine strategic partnership, moving away from grand political declarations and establishing an issues-based strategy and agenda,” from the conclusions of the ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on relations with Russia’, issued on 9th February this year.

 

The Economist print edition. NOW that the German Question has been solved, the Russian Question beckons. Can Russia, after centuries of autocracy and imperialism, be turned into the sort of nice democratic country that gets along easily with its European neighbours? The answer seems to be: not for a while yet, to judge from a policy paper released last week by the European Commission, the European Union's executive body, which suggests that relations between the Union and Russia are close to a post-Soviet low.

The Commission calls for “discussing frankly Russian practices that run counter to universal and European values”. It says Russia has problems with democracy, human rights and press freedom. It points to rows over the environment, trade, border regimes and technical co-operation. It says aid to Russia has had “at best mixed” results; and it chides Russia for “assertive” behaviour towards neighbours.

Some of these arguments go back years. But they are getting more heated with the approach of the EU's eastward enlargement in May. The EU will embrace ten countries in all, seven of which were subjects or satellites of the Soviet Union. As these countries impose tight EU visa rules, and close their markets to Russian goods, such as noisy aircraft which fail to meet EU standards, Russia has been jolted into realising that EU enlargement will affect it much more in practical terms than the eastward advance by NATO, which used to monopolise its attention.

So Russia has redirected its diplomatic firepower. It wants to renegotiate its “partnership and co-operation agreement” with the EU, which is supposed to govern all aspects of the relationship. It has also put forward a list of 14 big items, from trade concessions to visa-free travel, that it wants brought into the negotiations. It has threatened to let the treaty lapse—though EU officials claim that Russia itself would lose more from that course, by risking trade privileges with the EU.

The EU also says that Russia, for all its demands, has shown little recent enthusiasm for detailed talks. The distractions of Russia's parliamentary election in December and an approaching presidential one in March may be partly to blame. But there is more to it than that. Russia resents being informed—as happens now—of EU positions which have already been agreed among governments and so are scarcely changeable. It wants new joint bodies which will give it a seat at the table when EU governments are debating decisions that may affect its interests. It wants something more like the arrangement it has with NATO, where its representatives sit alongside those of NATO governments in a ministerial council and a cascade of lesser panels, enjoying “a voice but not a veto” in alliance deliberations.

The European Commission hates that idea, fearing that Russia-EU relations would then become hostage to bilateral ties between national governments and Russia, in which the latter could dominate more easily. Memories are fresh of the EU-Russia summit in November when Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, supposedly representing EU governments, disowned EU positions: he sympathised with Russia's war in Chechnya and its harassment of the Yukos oil company.

The Commission's latest analysis of Russia marks a sharp change from its starry-eyed optimism of a year ago, when it published a document called “Wider Europe” saying that Russia, and other countries of eastern Europe and the southern Mediterranean, could be turned into a “ring of friends” around the enlarged Union, absorbing the Union's political and economic values and being rewarded with aid and improved market access.

RIA Novosti. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer arrives on Wednesday in Russia on a working visit.

Official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko told RIA Novosti in an interview that during this visit the German Foreign Minister plans to discuss with his counterpart Igor Ivanov the Kaliningrad problem in view of the coming expansion of the European Union. The Kaliningrad Region is the Russian enclave in the Baltic.

Alexander Yakovenko pointed out that the opening of the FRG Consulate General in Kaliningrad these days showed that the Russian side puts into practice its part of the agreements with the European Union which were fixed in the Joint Statement of November 11, 2002.

"This step will help facilitate part of the problems for the citizens of Kaliningrad, including the problems in the visa sphere which arise in the context of the Union's expansion. The discussion of them will be continued at the negotiations with Joschka Fischer," Yakovenko said.

Within the frame of his working visit Joschka Fischer will be the first of the incumbent FRG federal ministers to visit the Kaliningrad Region. In Kaliningrad he plans to introduce the first FRG Consul General Kornelius Sommer and to lay a wreath to the tomb of Immanuel Kant on the day of the 200th anniversary of the philosopher's death.

From Kaliningrad Joschka Fischer plans to go to Moscow. The sides at the Russian-German negotiations will pay attention to the prospects of strengthening the role of the United Nations in an Iraqi settlement and the Middle East conflict, and also to countering international terrorism and to Russia's cooperation with the countries of the European Union and NATO.

Joschka Fischer's visit to Russia will last till February 12.

The monograph is devoted to the current problems of the Kaliningrad region development in the light of the EU enlargement to the East and forthcoming Russia's accession to WTO. The book addresses the most important economic, social and political problems of the development of the Kaliningrad region, as well as its role in the Russian Federation, in the development of foreign relations and the integration of Russia into the world economy. It is recommended for specialists in the issues of the regional development.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.. The European Commission today released a set of proposals to streamline the EU's relations with Russia. The paper, which will now be discussed by the bloc's member states, says the EU must in future define its interests more clearly and coherently, speak "with one voice," and -- if necessary -- start linking different issues to more effectively promote its goals. The commission also says human rights -- and particularly the situation in Chechnya -- must acquire greater prominence on the EU's agenda.

It is an open secret in Brussels that the EU-Russia relationship is in trouble. While the EU recognizes Russia as a key partner both in global and regional terms, the bloc has struggled to promote its own goals in the partnership.

The low point came late last year at the EU-Russia summit in Rome, where Moscow skillfully exploited differences between the bloc's member states, thwarting most advances sought by the EU.

The Rome debacle set in motion a drive within the bloc for a reassessment of its relationship with Russia, of which the commission paper is the first fruit. A parallel exercise is under way among the bloc's member states, who will have the final say on any policy decisions.

Diego de Ojeda is a European Commission spokesman for external relations. This morning, he offered RFE/RL the following summary of the present state of the EU-Russia partnership: "The communication tries to identify a number of things that are not working or are not working sufficiently well in EU-Russia relations. Some of these things are pertinent to the commission, because we have too many departments dealing with Russia, so we need to coordinate better. Some of the aspects refer to coordination between the member states and the [EU] presidency and the [EU] high representative [for foreign policy Javier] Solana, and the commission -- we need to have a more coherent and more clear views expressed by the EU. And some, frankly, refer to some imprecision and lack of results that we also identify as being the responsibility of Russia."

"[In] a number of areas, where we remain at a declaratory level, including when we refer to shared values, we should make it more precise and tell the Russians exactly what we think our common values mean."

The European Commission paper lists a number of important EU interests. Russia is described as a key global actor, not least because it holds a seat on the UN Security Council. It plays a significant role in the EU's "new neighborhood," the stability of which is of great importance for the bloc. Russia is also a vital source of oil and gas for the EU.

Yet, the document says, relations have come under "increasing strain." Russia has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, it continues to resist EU requests on Siberian overflight rights, and has threatened to block the extension of its Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with the EU to the 10 new member states.

The paper says Moscow has also adopted an "assertive" stance toward a "number of acceding countries" -- notably Estonia and Latvia over their Russian-speaking minorities -- as well as its ex-Soviet neighbors. Questions over the fairness of the State Duma elections last December, and continuing human rights violations, are also mentioned.

An Irish presidency paper, seen by RFE/RL and currently being discussed by the member states, offers a comprehensive list of Russian "priorities." These include accession to the World Trade Organization on its own terms; a relaxation of visa requirements; frequent summits with the participation of all 25 EU member states; "decision sharing" in the EU's defense project; "minimum EU involvement" in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union; no EU "commentary" on internal Russian affairs; and compensation for the negative effects of EU enlargement.

To effectively advance its own agenda in the face of these clearly formulated Russian demands, the commission document says, the EU needs to increase internal coordination and "make full use of its combined negotiating strength."

De Ojeda today said the EU's rotating presidencies should each, in turn, work on setting out clearer objectives. "We think that the European Union should identify a list of more precise objectives under each presidency, and that this should be realistic and issue-based, or results-orientated, for each [term] before the presidency starts," he said. "And then we should set [out] to achieve these objectives together with Russia, and we should not be shy in defending EU interests on a basis of reciprocity."

"Reciprocity" here is a reference to a growing feeling within the EU that the bloc should learn from the Russian practice of "linking" issues -- blocking progress in some areas in order to secure concessions in others.

The commission paper says such links should only be made between "related" issues, and goes on to list a few. Among them are the possibility of offering Russia trade preferences for the extension of the PCA to the new member states, a certain easing of visa restrictions in return for a readmission agreement on illegal immigrants, and increased defense cooperation with Russia in exchange for Moscow's help in resolving the conflicts in Moldova and the South Caucasus.

De Ojeda today said human rights concerns will also take on greater prominence. "[In] a number of areas, where we remain at a declaratory level, including when we refer to shared values, we should make it more precise and tell the Russians exactly what we think our common values mean," he said. "That applies to human rights, the rule of law and, of course, that applies to media freedom, or in the context of media freedom, and in Chechnya, in particular."

De Ojeda said the EU should insist on unfettered access for humanitarian aid agencies to Chechnya and demand the prosecution of human rights violations so that "immunity is not an option."

Today's European Commission document also calls for a clarification of EU strategies toward the South Caucasus, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus. It says the bloc should engage the newly independent states

"on the basis of its own strategic objectives," cooperating with Russia "whenever possible”(By Ahto Lobjakas).

EUobserver. Rows are prompting the EU to push a tougher line in its policy towards Russia. In a document unveiled yesterday the EU has signalled it will press its neighbour on human rights, Chechnya and Russia’s 'near abroad'.

In the midst of disputes over EU enlargement, the European Commission has produced a new framework for the Union’s relations with Russia.

After a disastrous EU-Russia summit last year, the EU decided in December to review they way it does business with the country.

Led by the Italian Presidency at the summit, divisions between the EU’s member states were effectively exploited by Moscow.

Silvio Berlusconi - the then President of the Council - shocked other EU leaders by apparently backing Russia’s actions in the breakaway Republic of Chechnya.

The Commission is now calling for more consistency:

"The EU needs to take a more coherent and more consistent approach to relations with Russia, which must be founded on the implementation of the common values underlying the bilateral partnership", reads a unusually strong statement from the Commission.

Hardened relations
But even with polices on which the EU broadly agrees, relations have hardened.

Russia has so far refused to sign the bilateral agreement which forms the legal basis for relations between the EU and Russia before some of its demands are met.

Mixed up with the emotional baggage of the majority of the 10 states entering on 1 May being ex-Soviet satellites, the issues threaten to turn into a bitter row.

Speaking at a book launch yesterday (9 February) Estonia’s soon to be Commissioner, Siim Kallas said tersely that he wanted the EU to have "stable relations with Russia, and good relations with the Ukraine".

"[I]n many areas, EU and Russian positions appear to have diverged" said the Commission.

"These include ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the extension of the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) to the ten new EU Member States and the need to make it work more effectively, the approach to resolving frozen conflicts in the NIS as well as respect for the rule of law and human rights, particularly as regards media freedom and events in Chechnya".

"The EU and Russia should be ready, as strategic partners, to discuss frankly all issues of concern, including human rights, media freedom and events in Chechnya in addition to strengthening co-operation on concrete issues, on the basis of common interests".

Foreign Ministers will debate the document later this month at their meeting in Brussels (

Financial Times. Russia has told the European Union it will support the Union's enlargement in May only if Brussels agrees to a list of demands aimed at securing Russia's economic interests in central and eastern Europe.

Authors:	Artur Usanov
	The issue was published in August 2003 ISBN 5-902547-024 This publication was prepared by the EastWest Institute with the support of the Office of the Russian Federation President’s Envoy to the North-Western Federal District and the Kaliningrad Regional Development Agency.

RIA Novosti. In Brussels German Gref, Russian Minister for Economic Development and Trade, and Pascal Lami, the European Union Commissioner for Trade, will discuss the problem of EU expansion, RIA Novosti was told at the Russian ministry for Economic Development and Trade.

"Effects of the EU expansion for Russia and the unsettled questions of its joining the World Trade Organisation will be in discussion at the meeting, due in Brussels on January 30", said the ministry.

It recalled that a Russian delegation led by deputy minister Maxim Medvedkov has flown to Brussels on Tuesday for a regular round of talks with European experts on problems of Russia's joining the WTO. At the talks, matters of access to the Russian market of farming products, telecommunication and insurance services will be in discussion.

The Russian delegation is also going to talk expansion of the European Union starting from May 1, when the EU admits ten new members.

Earlier, Medvedkov said to reporters that, as a result of EU expansion, Russian companies may lose up to 150 million dollars. This is due to the increase of quotas for Russian goods to the EU new entrants and the use of antidumping measures regarding Russia.