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EU Is Happy for Romania and Bulgaria
A two-day European Union summit began yesterday in Brussels. Bulgaria and Romania, which become members of the EU on January 1, will be honored at the summit, but most of the discussion will be devoted to the EU's problem neighbors, Russia and Turkey. The countries in favor of continued expansion of the union, among them Great Britain, Sweden and Poland, presented a plan with detailed that included the phases of negotiations for membership and all criteria for candidate states.
Croatia is the next in line for membership. It may accede in 2009. Behind it stand Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia, although the general opinion is that those countries have a long way to go. Italy and Spain are in favor of beginning negotiations with Serbia, but France and Britain consider it too early for that until Serbia turns over all war criminals to the Hague Tribunal.
One of the main questions at the summit was that of Turkey's membership. The EU decided two days ago to freeze negotiations with Turkey as punishment for Ankara's unwillingness to acknowledge the state of Cyprus and to open it ports to Cypriote ships.
Relations with Russia are another problem that will be extensively discussed at the summit. EU states are clearly concerned by Moscow's threat to ban meat exports from EU countries on January 1. The Russian Federal Veterinary and Sanitary Supervision Service (Rosselkhoznadzor) Sergey Dankvert stated several days ago that Russia would accept meat shipments only from those countries with which its has bilateral agreements. It thus hopes to create a schism within the EU by reaching agreements with key trading partners, such as France and Germany, while imposing sanctions on problematic countries such as the Baltic countries and Poland. EU leaders now have to find a unified strategy for relations with Russia. “We have already told the Russians this is unacceptable and that they should be talking to the EU as a whole,” EU representative Philip Tod stated.
An EU statement on the conflict between Russia and Poland over meat shipments is also expected at the summit. If Warsaw confirms its intention of removing its veto on Russia-EU negotiations, a dialog on a new agreement on partnership and cooperation may commence at the beginning of the new year, when Germany takes over the chair of the organization.
www.commersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 15, 2006
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