After the convensation with new President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived at conclusion that he took over the office not long ago.
Photo: Alexander Miridonov
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In the Environment of Mutual Non-Embracing
During his yesterday’s visit to Berlin, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev canvassed lots of issues with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, including the possible conclusion of a new treaty on Europe’s security and the chances to release former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky. It emerged during the trip that Medvedev is quite satisfied with today’s development of the party system and mass media in Russia, thinking at the same time that they should be protected against the administrative encroachment.
There had been no plans to sign any documents during the first official trip of Russia’s president to a European Union country. The leaders were only to discuss the issues of power industry, mutual turnover, NATO expansion and protection of human rights in Russia.
The range of considered issues was confirmed during the joint news conference of Medvedev and Merkel, when the German chancellor said they decided to set up a joint working team for energy cooperation. Merkel referred to the Nord Stream project opposed by a few states in Europe. To give Moscow a chance to materialize this idea, she promised to spare no efforts when convincing the opponents of the positive effect of this initiative of Russia.
In addition to power supplies, Medvedev specified in Berlin the need to conclude a legally binding treaty on Europe’s security, proposing to call a European summit for this purpose. The matter at stake was a regional pact based on the UN charter and clarifying the meaning of the factor of force in relations in the European Atlantic community.
The parties also went through human right protection in Russia. Asked by Merkel about the possibility to release Khodorkovsky, Medvedev rebuffed that the grant of pardon shouldn’t be the subject of interstate negotiations and that any citizen of Russia may appeal for pardon. But it won’t be the decision of policymakers, the president made clear.
During his visit, Medvedev explicitly defined the global place of Russia. We don't need to be embraced, the president said, emphasizing that Russia is striving for no more than truly equal relations and is ready for calm and honest talk.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 06, 2008
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