Turkish Daily News
EU in balancing act with Putin on energy, rights
Saturday, October 21, 2006
LAHTI - Reuters
European Union leaders arrived in Finland on Friday for sensitive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, torn between pleading for closer energy ties and raising concerns about democracy and Georgia.
EU president Finland invited Putin for dinner with the 25 EU leaders hoping to win backing for a tie-up offering Russia open access to the European market in return for better opportunities for European firms to exploit Russia's oil and gas resources.
But the assassination of an investigative journalist and the Kremlin's heavy-handed treatment of former Soviet state Georgia and Georgians living in Russia have heightened European concerns about whether Putin shares their values and soured the mood.
Before the encounter in the southern Finnish town of Lahti, the Europeans tried to mute their own differences on whether to treat Moscow more as a strategic partner and supplier of a quarter of its gas or as a bully in its ex-Soviet backyard.
"Only if we act in a more coordinated manner can we exert real influence on world energy markets and respond more effectively to energy disturbances," Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said in a letter of invitation to EU leaders.
"This is why we need to speak with one voice with our partners," he urged.
Former Soviet satellites in the Baltic states and central Europe have been vociferous in seeking a tougher EU line, while France and Germany, Russia's biggest European energy customer, have stressed common ground with Putin.
EU countries are irked by Russia's refusal to ratify an energy charter treaty and its increasing hostility towards foreign investment in its strategic hydrocarbons sector.
"The spirit of the charter protects consumer countries, meaning Europe," Russian Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko told French daily Les Echos in an interview, urging European states to do more their end to secure transit of energy supplies.
The EU this week issued unusually stern criticism of Moscow over its blockade of Georgia and harassment of Georgians inside Russia that Tbilisi has compared to a form of ethnic cleansing.
"I hope these sanctions will be lifted soon," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner as saying in an interview.
"We have called on both sides to avoid actions which could raise the level of tension," she added.
The Kremlin says Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who seeks membership of NATO and the EU, provoked the backlash with inflammatory rhetoric and a military build-up around the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Georgia.
"In principle, there are no restrictions on discussing other topics. If questions arise, we will discuss them," Putin's adviser on EU relations Sergei Yastrzhembsky told Interfax.
Before meeting Putin, EU leaders will discuss their own future energy policy, including ambitious plans to save 20 percent of power consumption by 2020 through greater efficiency.
Britain and the Netherlands circulated a joint call to put the fight against climate change at the heart of EU energy policy, and Denmark proposed binding targets to slash fuel consumption and reward efficiency and green energy sources.
They will also debate ways to promote greater innovation through a Commission plan for a European Institute of Technology to rival the United States in connecting research and business.
Germany and Britain lead skeptics of the plan, fearing extra costs and rivalry with existing centers of excellence.