'Russische geloofwaardigheid in het geding' na moord op journaliste', zegt Barosso (en)

The credibility of the Russian government rests on catching the killers of journalist Anna Politkovskaya European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso i has said, ahead of an informal EU-Russia summit in Finland this week.

"It's a question of the credibility of the Russian government and the Russian authorities to show that they are able to bring to justice those who make those hideous crimes," he said in an interview with the BBC on Sunday (15 October). "We want those who have assassinated Ms Politkovskaya - a great fighter for freedom of expression_to be brought to justice."

The commission president promised that the EU was "going to be frank with Russia" over the killing, adding "We have an interest in having good relations with Russia, but I believe Russia also has an interest in having good relations with the European Union."

With the addition of Bulgaria and Romania next year, the bloc's population is set to increase to half a billion making it "the biggest trade bloc in the world" Mr Barroso explained. "Size matters," he quipped.

Ms Politkovskaya, a prominent critic of the Kremlin's actions in Chechnya and Russian army corruption in general, was murdered in Moscow on 7 October, prompting the Finnish EU presidency to immediately call for "a thorough investigation of this heinous crime."

Her death overshadowed Mr Putin's visit to Germany last week, with chancellor Angela Merkel also calling for a probe and with small groups of protestors greeting the Russian leader with placards saying "murderer" as theories on who ordered the killing circulate in the media.

The Lahti meeting this week has been criticised by some EU diplomats as a mistake. Sources told the Financial Times it will give Mr Putin a prestigious platform where he is likely to speak about internal EU divisions on how to handle Russian oil and gas imports.

But a Russian diplomat told EUobserver the behind closed doors atmosphere between EU leaders and the Russian president is "good" in the run up to the Lahti meeting on 20 October, no matter what kind of human rights criticism they might voice to the media.