Jose Manuel Barroso, accompanied by nine EU Commissioners will visit Moscow after a 2.5 years' delay
A Brussels delegation led by the EU Commission Chairman Jose Manuel Barroso will arrive in Moscow tomorrow. The Europeans will meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday and will also be received by President Dmitry Medvedev. Brussels stresses the political importance of the very fact of the visit.
The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will arrive in Moscow tomorrow evening in the company of nine Commissioners. Among them are four Deputy Presidents: Commissioners Günter Verheugen (industry and business), Jacques Barrot, who is in charge of freedom, security and justice, Siim Kallas, who is in charge of audit and anti-fraud activities and the transport chief Antonio Tajani. The remaining five Commissioners are in charge of areas that are important for Russian-European relations: Benita Ferrero-Waldner is in charge of foreign affairs, Andris Piebalgs is in charge of energy, Joaquin Almunia of the economy, Catherine Ashton of trade and Stavros Dimas of the environment.
Our source in Brussels says that such visits were originally planned to be annual. In the spring of 2004, Romano Prodi, Barroso's predecessor, and several commissioners visited Moscow. In December 2005 the then Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov paid a return visit to Brussels. But then various political problems prevented meetings in such formats for two and a half years. In 2006 it was the dispute over Polish beef supplies to Russia. In the spring of 2007 it was the problem of the Bronze Soldier and the frictions over the shifting of the monument to the Soviet Soldier in Tallinn. The relations between Russia and the EU took a plunge over Lithuania, which obstructed the start of negotiations between Brussels and Moscow on a new framework treaty demanding the resumption of the supplies of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline to Mazeikiai oil refinery. Finally, last year the war in South Ossetia seriously cooled the relations between Europe and Moscow.
This visit in itself "has great political significance and can be seen as a return to business as usual," a European diplomat in Brussels told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. The source said that the main irritants have now been removed. He pointed out that the visit by Mr Barroso and the Commissioners "should give a new impetus to the whole spectrum of cooperation", as witnessed by the lineup of the high-powered delegation of Commissioners. No documents are expected to be signed. On Friday Mr Barroso and the Commissioners will hold a plenary meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the ministries concerned, then the Prime Minister and the European Commission President will have a private meeting and Mr Putin will give a dinner in honour of the guests. Before leaving Moscow, Mr Barroso will have a 10-15-minute meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin.
The European guests expect above all to discuss the progress of talks on the new framework treaty which will replace the expired Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, according to Brussels. The next round of the talks is scheduled for February 16-17. Among other key topics are the economic crisis, Russia's accession to the WTO, international cooperation, notably in Afghanistan, simplifying the visa regime between Russia and the EU and, of course, energy.
According to the press secretary of the EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, "the recent gas crisis has seriously affected the Moscow meeting's agenda". The discussion of the relations between Russia and the EU in the energy field will take into account the dispute over Russian gas supplies via Ukraine. Asked by Nezavisimaya Gazeta whether Mr Piebalgs would discuss bypass pipelines - Nord Stream under the Baltic Sea to Germany and the South Stream under the Black Sea to Bulgaria, our interlocutor replied: "I cannot confirm this. Everything will depend on whether the Russians are willing to discuss these issues. However, the European Commission's stand on these projects is well known: We support the construction of Nord Stream, which we see as a project that meets Europe's interests. We are not opposed to South Stream, but we do not support it as vigorously. Obviously, we support the building of the Nabucco gas pipeline. At the same time, the spokesman stressed that support for Nabucco does not mean that the EU was going to block the Russian project of a gas pipeline beneath the Black Sea.
Andrei Terekhov