EU en Rusland bereiden zich voor op intesievere samenwerking (en)

The Permanent Partnership Council of the EU and Russia convened in Brussels on Friday, 3 November, to prepare for a new basis of cooperation to be agreed upon at the EU-Russia Summit in Helsinki later this month.

The Helsinki summit is expected to launch negotiations for a new post Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Russia - maintaining the "real effort" that the Finnish EU Presidency has demonstrated in improving the relations, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov put it. "A lot needs to be done to further and deepen our cooperation", said Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

At a press conference after their meeting, Foreign Ministers Tuomioja and Lavrov both expressed their satisfaction with the progress in the various fields of cooperation, paving way for a new partnership treaty. "The EU is one of our key partners", said Lavrov, and referred not only to economic but also to political and human rights cooperation.

The ministers also discussed a range of international hotspots: Georgia, Moldova, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran, the Middle East, Kosovo. Foreign Minister Lavrov emphasised several times during the press conference that Russia is not at the opposing end of the table but working together and collectively with the EU and other international actors to resolve the nuclear issue with Iran and the status of Kosovo.

The dispute between the EU member states Estonia and Latvia and Russia on border agreements and the status of Russian minorities prompted the ministers to debate the fullness of a glass. When Lavrov critisised the Latvian and Estonian governments for their processes of naturalisation of non-citizens, Tuomioja stepped up to say that the two countries adhere to European human rights criteria. He referred to the situation as "a glass half-full" while others might see it as "a glass half-empty".