Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

FACTBOX-EU-Russia relations
14 Nov 2008 17:51:52 GMT
 Source: Reuters
Nov 14 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after an EU-Russia summit on Friday that he had won Russian backing for talks on security in Europe next year and urged a freeze in missile deployments by Moscow and the United States until then. Following are some of the issues in Russian-European Union relations.

* SECURITY:

-- Last month Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on the EU, which relies heavily on Russian energy supplies, to work with Russia on a new security pact, arguing that Washington had forfeited its place at the heart of the world order.

-- Medvedev has threatened to deploy missiles in an enclave near Poland in response to U.S. plans for an anti-missile shield in Europe.

OTHER ISSUES: * A NEW BEGINNING:

-- The EU agreed on Nov. 10 to restart talks with Russia on the partnership and cooperation agreement, a wide-ranging political and economic pact between the bloc and its biggest energy supplier. Talks will resume on Dec. 2.

-- EU foreign ministers approved a negotiating mandate last May for talks on a new partnership agreement with Russia after 18 months of objections by ex-communist members of the bloc.

-- The 27-nation bloc froze talks on the pact in response to Russia invading Georgia in August after Tbilisi's forces tried to retake the separatist region of South Ossetia.

* GEORGIA:

-- EU president France brokered a ceasefire last August to end a five-day war between Georgia and Russia, sparked by a failed Georgian attempt to retake its breakaway region of South Ossetia.

-- The European Union then sent 225 unarmed observers, with about 75 support staff, to monitor the ceasefire, which both sides have accused the other of breaking.

-- Talks to ease the conflict over Georgia's Moscow-backed breakaway regions were suspended last month after diplomats failed to get Russia and Georgia to agree on who was allowed to take part.

* ENERGY:

-- European governments have raised concerns about the treatment of some European energy investors attempting to develop oil and gas resources in Russia. Large firms have felt they were being shut out of lucrative investments in Russia.

-- Finalising a common EU energy policy was necessary to ease the stranglehold Russian gas monopoly Gazprom enjoyed on the bloc, which relies on Russia for a quarter of its gas supplies.

-- Bilateral deals with Moscow by EU states such as Germany, France and Italy have weakened the EU's hand and critics have accused Moscow of using divide-and-rule tactics. * HUMAN RIGHTS/UNSOLVED MURDERS:

-- EU governments have voiced concern about human rights, democracy and media freedom in Russia.

-- Ties between Russia and Britain have soured over the murder of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, and the killing of campaigning journalist Anna Politkovskaya the same year.

* KOSOVO:

-- Kosovo's ethnic Albanian government wanted the EU to take over policing when it declared independence from Serbia last February, a move which infuriated not only Serbia but also its own minority Serb population.

-- Serbia and its ally Russia have refused to accept the EU judiciary and police mission set to replace the U.N. administration in Kosovo unless it is approved by the U.N. Security council.


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  Direct Relief Offers Emergency Aid in Tea Fire
DRI - USA

•  ADRA Ranks Among Top 400 U.S. Charities for Fourth Consecutive Year
ADRA - International

•  UMCOR Hotline for November 11, 2008
UMCOR - USA

•  KosInvest: Incorporating peace with business
World Vision MEERO - Cyprus

•  In war-torn Chad, a focus on 'mind, soul and body'
CWS

MORE >>

Latest news

•  FACTBOX-EU-Russia relations

•  France had no mandate on missile shield call-Czechs

•  Enogex Oklahoma natgas pipe explodes, injures one

•  Iraq improving but al Qaeda, Iran still threats-US

•  Wildfire rages in California celebrity enclave

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Background information

Facts & figures
France Russia United States of America Poland Kosovo

Related articles

Breaking stories
 FACTBOX-EU-Russia relations (1 minute ago)

France had no mandate on missile shield call-Czechs (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Experts call for better data on climate change migrants (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 Direct Relief Offers Emergency Aid in Tea Fire (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 Obama and Darfur - What to Expect (1 minute ago)

Maps
 MAP: Global Incidence of H5N1 Virus (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-13T142038Z_01_BOL01_RTRIDSP_2_RUSSIA-SUBMARINE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BOL01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-13T141833Z_01_BOL04_RTRIDSP_2_RUSSIA-SUBMARINE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BOL04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-13T141649Z_01_BOL07_RTRIDSP_2_RUSSIA-SUBMARINE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BOL07.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-13T141158Z_01_BOL03_RTRIDSP_2_RUSSIA-SUBMARINE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BOL03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-13T140947Z_01_BOL06_RTRIDSP_2_RUSSIA-SUBMARINE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/BOL06.htm

People take part in the funeral ceremony for seamen who got killed during an accident on Russia's Nerpa nuclear submarine in Bolshoi Kamen, 35 km (22 miles) east of Vladivostok, November ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Fri Nov 14 17:55:00 2008