EU Ministers Agree to Work Toward Deal with Russia

Source: Deutsche Welle World

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday, May 26, to negotiate a key deal with Russia and discussed proposals to strengthen the bloc's ties with its eastern neighbors. The agreement on talks for a new EU-Russia strategic partnership follows two years of wrangling and a dropped veto from Lithuania. It is intended to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which ran out in 2007, and should include legally-binding measures on such issues as energy, security, trade and education.

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EU ministers also listened to Polish plans for strengthening ties with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and, eventually, Belarus. Supported by Sweden and blessed by heavyweights France and Germany, the so-called Eastern Partnership comes on the back of French plans to boost the EU's ties with its southern neighbors in a Union for the Mediterranean.

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According to a text seen by German news agency DPA, the proposed Eastern Partnership would seek to deepen cooperation and focus on concrete proposals in the area of migration, with an eye to moving towards a visa-free regime. It would also seek to create a free trade area, provide support for reforms designed to bring those countries up to EU standards, and arrange more student exchange programs.

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Polish and Swedish diplomats say the partnership will encourage "multilateral cooperation" and "foster regional links." Cooperation with Belarus, whose democratic credentials have been thrown into question, would initially take place only on a "technical and expert level." The Polish-Swedish plan was welcomed by the Czech Republic, which is due to take over the rotating presidency of the EU on Jan. 1. France, which launched the idea of the Mediterranean Union, is due to hold the EU presidency from July 1 this year. "This year is the Mediterranean year, next year would be the eastern year," said the Czech deputy prime minister for European affairs, Alexander Vondra.


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