Europe-East articles from September 2008

Europe-East archives from September 2008

EU/RUSSIA : AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FALL VICTIM TO TENSIONS WITH RUSSIA.
September 22, 2008... Meat, cereals and fruit and vegetables are bearing the brunt of the deterioration of bilateral relations between the European Union and Russia. Moscow is increasing its pretexts for turning back entire shipments of goods at its borders....

BUDGET : AID FOR GEORGIA MUST BE ANTICIPATED IN 2009 BUDGET.
September 22, 2008... Negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament on the 2009 budget should reach a stalemate on several points, including the global level of payments and additional resources to be allocated to Kosovo and Palestine. Added to this...

EU/SERBIA : BARROSO: SERBIA COULD BECOME EU CANDIDATE IN 2009.(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, on 3 September, that Serbia could become a candidate country in 2009, provided that by that time it meets all necessary conditions, including full cooperation with the International...

EU/SERBIA : COMMISSION RECOMMENDS IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERIM AGREEMENT.(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... The European Commission believes that, following the arrest of the Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, the EU-Serbia interim agreement, which was signed on 29 April, should be brought into force, said the EU's Enlargement...

EULEX KOSOVO MISSION : EU AND UN REDEFINE ROLES.
September 22, 2008... As the EU mission in Kosovo (EULEX) slowly resumes its deployment - nearly 400 troops are expected to be on location by the end of the month, mostly supervisory staff and police officers - discussions are continuing between the European Union...

ESDP : EU APPROVES GEORGIA MISSION'S JOINT ACTION.(European Security and Defence Policy)
September 22, 2008... The Council of foreign affairs ministers gave the green light, on 15 September, to an EU monitoring mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia), by approving the joint action and the concept of operations. This is the third mission to be launched this...

EU/GEORGIASPECIAL ENVOY NAMED TO HANDLE GEORGIA CRISIS.
September 22, 2008... The EU's foreign ministers decided, on 15 September, to nominate Pierre Morel, current EU special representative for Central Asia, as the Union's special representative to Georgia. They did not, however, specify his mandate. According to EU...

EU/RUSSIA/GEORGIA : EU HITS OUT AT MOSCOW FOR RECOGNISING GEORGIAN REGIONS.
September 22, 2008... The French EU presidency "strongly condemned", on behalf of all member states, Russia's decision to recognise Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states and called for "a political solution to the conflicts...

CIVIL DEFENCE MISSIONS : EULEX KOSOVO DEPLOYMENT RESUMES IN EARNEST.(European Union's rule of law mission in Kosovo)
September 22, 2008... The deployment of the European Union's rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX) resumed slowly during the summer and is expected to accelerate this autumn. The aim is to complete deployment by late November or December, thus ensuring the...

DEFENCE AND SECURITY : EU SECURITY STRATEGY RIPE FOR "IMMEDIATE" REVISION.
September 22, 2008... Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, has presented to the Union's 27 foreign affairs ministers, meeting informally in Avignon, an initial discussion paper' on European security strategy in a...

EU/UKRAINE : EU STANCE TOWARDS KIEV LEAVES EXPERTS DIVIDED.
September 22, 2008... Experts are divided over the outcome of the EU-Ukraine summit, held on 9 September in Paris. While some say that the EU should have gone further and make a more concrete offer to Kiev amid tensions in the Caucasus, others argue that the Union...

EU SUPPORT FOR RUSSIA'S ENTRY INTO WTO.
September 22, 2008... The European Commission continues to support Russia's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) despite the Georgia crisis and Moscow's threat to pull out of certain agreementsafor its membership that have already been negotiated. "Our...

EU TO HAVE ASYLUM SUPPORT OFFICE.
September 22, 2008... Over the longer term, the 27 EU member states would like to build a Europe of asylum'. In the short term, they will have a support office that will help them coordinate their different asylum policies, which vary widely today. This was the...

EU/SERBIA : EU WELCOMES ARREST OF TOP WAR CRIMES SUSPECT KARADZIC.(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... The EU has welcomed the arrest of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic as "a very positive development". After more than a decade on the run, Karadzic was located and arrested on 21 July by Serbian security officers, a statement by...

EU/RUSSIA/GEORGIA : EU WILL HAVE TO REACT.
September 22, 2008... Despite warnings from the EU and the US, which have supportedaGeorgia's territorial integrity, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev signed, on 26 August, "decrees on the recognition by the Russian Federation of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's...

FRANCE: REFERENDUM FOR EACH EU ACCESSION.
September 22, 2008... French MPs and senators, gathered in congress in Versailles on 21 July, adopted a series of modifications to the country's Constitution, including Article 88-5, which will read as follows: "Any bill authorising the ratification of a treaty on...

CYPRUS REUNIFICATION : "FRUITFUL" MEETING KICKS OFF KEY PHASE OF PEACE TALKS.
September 22, 2008... Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, opened, on 11 September, a key part of the negotiations aimed at the reunification of the Mediterranean island. The two leaders focused on...

EU/US : GEORGIA-RUSSIA CONFLICT TRIGGERING RELATIONSHIP RETHINK.
September 22, 2008... The Russia-Georgia conflict is proving to be a catalyst for serious soul-searching on both sides of the Atlantic about what kind of relationship they want with Moscow and Tbilisi. While no consensus has emerged yet on which path to take, shifts...

EU/GEORGIA : JOUYET CONFIRMS EUROPE'S POSITION.(Jean-Pierre Jouyet)
September 22, 2008... The Georgian crisis and the situation in Serbia and Belarus were discussed with the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, during an extraordinary meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs,...

KIEV RECEIVES REASSURANCE.(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... Amid growing fears of Russian expansionism, the EU has reaffirmed its determination to anchor Ukraine to the West despite Moscow's pressure but fell short of promising full EU membership to Kiev. During the EU-Ukraine summit, on 9 September in...

EU/RUSSIA/GEORGIA : MEPS BACK EU SUMMIT STANCE ON MOSCOW.
September 22, 2008... Adding to the unity of the EU towards Russia on the crisis in Georgia, the European Parliament adopted, on 3 August, a resolution calling on Moscow to honour its commitments and fully withdraw its troops from undisputed Georgian territories....

EU/BELARUS : MINSK TO BE REWARDED FOR FAIR ELECTIONS.
September 22, 2008... The European Union is ready to soften its sanctions against Belarus provided the forthcoming parliamentary elections, on 28 September, are run in a democratic fashion, the conclusions from the EU foreign ministers' meeting, on 15 September,...

ENERGY : MORE CLOUDS HANGING OVER ENERGY RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA.
September 22, 2008... The possibility of EU sanctions in the diplomatic dispute over Georgia between the EU and Moscow is casting further shadows over the 27-member bloc's energy relationship with Moscow (1). In financial terms, the war in Georgia clearly has...

EU/RUSSIA : MOSCOW EXTENDS EU MEAT IMPORT BAN.
September 22, 2008... "We want to create conditions allowing our country to realise its competitive potential, to make itself a good place on the international market and to protect our population against the negative consequences and excessive dependence on...

INTERVIEW WITH RUSSIA'S AMBASSADORaVLADIMIR CHIZHOV : MOSCOW: PACT WITH EU MUST BE COMPREHENSIVE AS WELL AS CONCISE.
September 22, 2008... Following more than 18 months of political stalemate, the EU and Russia finally launched in June negotiations on a new partnership accord to replace a decade-old Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). In an exclusive interview with...

EU/GEORGIA/RUSSIA : MOSCOW REGRETS EU'S DECISION TO FREEZE PARTNERSHIP TALKS.
September 22, 2008... Russia has hit out at the EU for postponing the negotiations on a new partnership agreement in retaliation to Moscow's 'disproportionate reaction' to the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict. In a statement issued after the special summit held by EU...

EU/RUSSIA : MOSCOW REJECTS EU PRESENCE IN SOUTH OSSETIA AND ABKHAZIA.
September 22, 2008... Only two days after Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev reached agreement in Moscow on Russia's troop withdrawal from Georgia, a new controversy has erupted between the EU and Moscow over the deployment of EU observers in South Ossetia and...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS COUNCIL : PENALTIES FOR EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS SPLIT THE UNION.
September 22, 2008... The European Union's member states have split into two camps over proposed new rules to fight illegal migration. A directive on sanctions against employers of illegal migrants, proposed on 16 May 2007, ran into opposition of a group of member...

ESDP : PREPARATIONS FOR EU GEORGIA MISSION IN FULL GEAR.(European Security and Defence Policy)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... The 27 member states of the Union have decided to speed up preparations for their civil observation mission of support for stabilisation in Georgia. An initial team being recruited now will make up the core group managing the mission. It is...

ENLARGEMENT : REHN CONFIRMS UNION'S ENLARGEMENT PROSPECTS.(Olli Rehn)
September 22, 2008... The raison d'etre of EU enlargement is to extend the area of liberty and democracy, peace and prosperity throughout Europe and, to this end, the Western Balkan countries have a perspective to join the EU, once they fulfil the relevant criteria....

EU/MACEDONIA : REHN: SKOPJE NEEDS MORE REFORM.(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn warned the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on 4 September, that it has to step up its reform efforts if it wants to succeed in opening EU accession talks this year. According to Rehn, not enough...

CYPRUS REUNIFICATION : RIVAL LEADERS RESUME PEACE TALKS.
September 22, 2008... Following a four-year suspension, direct negotiations on the reunification of Cyprus were re-launched on 3 September in Nicosia, last European capital divided by an ethic conflict. The talks were opened by the two Cypriot leaders: Cyprus...

RUSSIAN QUAGMIRE.(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... Just ahead of a critical visit to Moscow by Nicolas Sarkozy, Jose Manuel Barroso and Javier Solana, the EU's foreign ministers were confronted with Europe's limited room for manoeuvre over Russia, during their informal Council meeting, on 5...

EU/RUSSIA/GEORGIA : RUSSIA OBSTRUCTING HUMANITARIAN AID OPERATIONS IN GEORGIA.
September 22, 2008... The European Commission has had serious problems distributing its humanitarian aid to Georgia and its breakaway region of South Ossetia, an EU official said on 27 August. Despite efforts, the humanitarian organisations, which, on behalf of the...

RUSSIA PLEDGES FULL GEORGIA PULLOUT.(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... President Dmitry Medvedev has pledged to pull out Russia's troops from Georgia, except for the region of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in a month's time. The announcement was made on 8 September following four hours of negotiation with Nicolas...

RUSSIA: THE VOICE OF THE UNION.
September 22, 2008... It is to be hoped, unless one does not believe in the value of political gestures, that the position adopted by the 27 EU member states at the conclusion of their special summit on 1 September after the crisis in Georgia in August foreshadows...

ESDP : RUSSIA TO PARTICIPATE IN EU CHAD MISSION.(European Security and Defence Policy)(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... The EU military mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (EUFOR) will be able to benefit from Russian reinforcements. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed, on 1 September, a decree confirming that a contingent of a maximum of 200...

INTERVIEW WITH US CONGRESSMAN ALCEE L. HASTINGS, CHAIRMAN OF COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE : "SARKOZY'S ENGAGEMENT WITH RUSSIA IS THE RIGHT APPROACH".
September 22, 2008... With the US caught up in its historic presidential election campaign, it is remarkable how marginal a role it has played in the current Georgia-Russia conflict compared to the EU. Speaking exclusively to Europolitics New Neighbours, a US...

ESDP : UNION TO SEND LARGE OBSERVER' MISSION TO GEORGIA.(European Security and Defence Policy)
September 22, 2008... The EU's 27 heads of state and government decided, on 1 September, to 'immediately' send an 'exploratory' EU mission to Georgia by way of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESPD). The objective is to 'contribute to gathering information...

EU/RUSSIA : UNION WANTS TO PREVENT ANOTHER CRISIS WITH MOSCOW.
September 22, 2008... Drawing the first lessons from the Georgian crisis, the EU wants to strengthen its presence on its oriental border and in the Caucasus in order to prevent a new Russian offensive. During their informal Council (Gymnich), on 6 September in...

US PRAISES EU'S GEORGIA STANCE.(Brief article)
September 22, 2008... The stance taken by EU leaders on 1 September on the Russia-Georgia conflict has been welcomed by US President George Bush. "This extraordinary EU summit demonstrates that Europe and the United States are united in standing firm behind...

ENERGY : WAR IN GEORGIA PUTS NABUCCO PROJECT UNDER SCRUTINY.
September 22, 2008... The brief war in Georgia has thrown up major doubts as to the security of the 7.9 billion euro Nabucco project to strengthen the EU's security of supply by bringing non-Russian natural gas to Europe via routes other than through Russia. The...

EU/CROATIA : ZAGREB UNVEILS NEGOTIATING POSITION ON AGRICULTURE.
September 22, 2008... With a deadline looming on the horizon, the Croatian government has intensified work on the EU accession dossier in order to be able to open all remaining negotiating chapters by the end of this year. At one of the first post-summer sessions in...