Europese diplomaten praten over uitstellen van de EU-Rusland bijeenkomst

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Attacks on the Estonian embassy in Moscow have sparked a conversation in Brussels on whether or not to postpone the EU-Russia summit later this month, as prospects for launching talks on a new EU-Russia treaty become increasingly worse.

"We are not excluding it. This might happen. It depends on the Russian reaction," the Latvian ambassador to the EU, Eduards Stiprais, told EUobserver on the summit postponement option after an EU ambassadors' meeting in Brussels on Wednesday (2 May) broached the issue.

"It's difficult to understand how the Russian law enforcement authorities were able to disperse so effectively some peaceful protestors a few weeks ago, but are now unable to maintain law and order on the streets of Moscow," Mr Stiprais added. "The ball is in the Russian court."

An Estonian diplomat explained that both Tallinn and the German EU presidency are still expecting the summit to go ahead at this stage, with Estonia "happy" the EU has shown solidarity and with Germany arguing the summit is the best forum for handling EU-Russia gripes.

"We wouldn't like to veto anything, we are hoping for the best," the Estonian official explained.

The question also came up at a meeting of the 27 EU commissioners the same day, with Estonian commissioner Siim Kallas briefing colleagues on remarks by Estonian foreign minister, Urmas Paet, who said on Tuesday the EU should give "full consideration" to putting the summit off.

"A week is a long time in politics," a commission official said on the prospects for the EU-Russia meeting in Samara on 18 May. "I didn't sense any appetite for postponing the summit at today's commission meeting," he added.

Estonian embassy under siege

The remarks come after five days of violent protests by about 500 members of Russian nationalist youth groups outside the Estonian embassy in Moscow, sealing off the 12 Estonian diplomats living inside.

On Wednesday, the Estonian ambassador's bodyguards had to fight back with tear gas against a crowd of 30 youths during a press conference. People also attacked and damaged the Swedish ambassador's car when he arrived to take part in the media event.

Meanwhile, Estonia has stopped issuing visas for Russian citizens to enter its country and is evacuating the families of its diplomatic staff in Russia for their own safety.

The German EU presidency the same day said it "urges the Russian Federation to comply with its international obligations under the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations." German diplomats plan to hand a formal note of complaint to the Kremlin on Wednesday evening.

The European Commission - which normally avoids thorny foreign relations problems - joined in, calling on Russia to "allow EU embassies to function properly and European representatives to be protected adequately."

The bronze soldier

Both Berlin and Brussels are staying out of the bilateral Estonia-Russia dispute which sparked off the whole embassy row, however. The Moscow protests began as Estonia moved a Soviet-era statue - the Bronze Soldier - from Tallinn city centre to a military graveyard outside the capital.

Many Estonians see the soldier as a symbol of Russian oppression in the last century, but ethnic Russians living in Estonia - over one quarter of the 1.3 million population - see its removal as an insult to the Russian World War II effort.

Even before the Estonia spat, the Samara summit was already facing a Polish veto on starting EU-Russia treaty talks and the added threat of a Lithuanian veto. The ex-Communist EU states say Russia is using trade in food and energy as forms of political punishment.

One EU diplomat said it is "highly unlikely" the new treaty talks will begin in Samara given the worsening climate. "The German presidency is in a difficult situation," he said. "The coming Portuguese presidency is also worried about dealing with Russia later this year."