The 21st EU-Russia Summit – currently being held in Khanty Mansiisk, Siberia, under the Slovenian EU Council Presidency – will be a historic one, declared the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia and President of the European Council, Janez Janša. One of the centrepieces of this Summit will be the official launch of negotiations on the new agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation. The Slovenian EU Council Presidency, in cooperation with all the Member States and with the support of the European institutions, has invested a great deal in ensuring the mandate for negotiations on a new agreement to replace the 1997 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement was confirmed in good time. The European Union and the Russian Federation will also resume the practice of issuing joint statements – the last time a Joint Statement was adopted by an EU-Russia Summit was in November 2003.
“Negotiations on the new agreement underpinning EU-Russia relations are scheduled to be launched at the beginning of July, if overall we can see eye to eye at this Summit,” stressed the Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Janša. The Prime Minister, together with the Slovenian Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Commissioners Peter Mandelson and Benita Ferrero-Waldner and the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, were invited by the Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev to a working dinner, at which talks focused on issues of common concern. The Russian President’s proposals regarding the future of Euro-Atlantic security structures were also discussed. PM Janez Janša found the discussion relevant to debates on the national security strategy and on security within the European Union.
“The Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, placed the entire debate in the context of necessary changes in the United Nations. He had specific comments to make, however, on a Euro-Atlantic space from Vancouver to Vladivostok. Such a space is certainly one of the key challenges of the twenty-first century. The shape the twenty-first century will take – not only for our continent but for the whole world – will depend on how the European Union and the Russian Federation handle their partnership in the decades to come,” cautioned the Prime Minister.
Tomorrow, the Slovenian Prime Minister, European Council President Janez Janša, will co-chair the formal section of the 21st Summit between the European Union and the Russian Federation. In addition to assessing mutual relations, the leaders from both sides will discuss challenges to the global economy, including food security, energy security and action against climate change. At their working lunch, the leaders will also exchange views on the ‘frozen conflicts’ in the common neighbourhood, the Middle East and Afghanistan, as well as on the Iranian nuclear issue.
Later in the afternoon, the Slovenian Prime Minister is expected to hold bilateral talks with the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev. In recent years, opportunities for bilateral cooperation between Russia and Slovenia have expanded considerably, with cooperation in trade in services significantly boosted. The Russian President and the Slovenian Prime Minister will also exchange views on energy issues and the planned South Stream gas pipeline project, scheduled to be routed through Slovenia.
