Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-18-Speech-3-308"
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"en.20080618.25.3-308"2
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"The forthcoming EU-Russia summit will be the first opportunity for leaders of EU Member States to meet with the new Russian authorities appointed after the recent elections. The summit will therefore be an excellent opportunity to become better informed about the direction of Russian policy, and how it might be implemented.
A certain amount of information on what this policy may be like can be gleaned from President Medvedev’s speech in Berlin. It contained a number of hopeful references to combating corruption and governing under the rule of law. The difficulty is that President Putin, Mr Medvedev’s predecessor, said much the same thing at the start of his term, yet we all know how things developed and what the present situation is like. The aforementioned speech also contained a view of the world that differed from the one we would have wished to hear. In the vision of the world presented by Mr Medvedev, the European Union or more accurately, the Member States of the Union are reduced to the role of mere economic partners of Russia. The latter envisages engaging in political activity in a significantly broader area stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok.
There is a second issue worthy of mention. It is rather more specific, but urgent, and concerns the relationship between Russia and Georgia. Pursuant to an agreement reached in 1994, Russian troops mandated by the Community of Independent States, an association of post-Soviet countries, are stationed in Abkhazia. Abkhazia is part of Georgia. There is every indication that these troops are not fulfilling a peace-keeping role, and that they are in fact a party in the conflict between Abkhazian separatists and the government of Georgia, as evidenced by the shooting down of a pilotless Georgian aircraft by a Russian one. Pursuant to a recent unilateral decision taken by the Russian authorities alone, these forces have been strengthened significantly.
It would make a great difference if the European Union became involved in resolving this conflict, acting as a trustworthy and reliable entity."@en1
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