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Post an EU jobAt the EU-Russia summit in Samara on 18 May, EU leaders signaled that formal cooperation between the two sides cannot be strengthened until bilateral disputes between Russia and several of the EU’s new member states are resolved.
EU-Russia summits are held on a bi-annual basis and are designed to provide "strategic direction" on cooperation between the two sides.
This latest summit has been overshadowed by a number of issues, including a Russian ban on imports of Polish meat, an oil supply dispute with Lithuania, and an ongoing dispute with Estonia over the removal of a Soviet era statue (EurActiv 14/05/07).
Poland, with the support of Lithuania, has been particularly vocal in its opposition to greater EU cooperation with Russia and has, much like in November 2006, vetoed opening broad EU-Russia co-operation talks. Poland fears that if such talks proceed in the current climate, its interests will be sidelined by the interests of larger EU member states, particularly with respect to energy security.
LinksDossier: Geopolitics of EU energy supply
The EU is an extremely important market for Russia, particularly for its energy exports. Moscow has been attempting to move ahead with closer cooperation on energy issues despite tensions with some of the EU's eastern member states. But during the summit, EU Commission President Manuel Barroso emphasised that further cooperation between the two sides will need to be based on the understanding that “a difficulty for a member state is a difficulty for the whole European community.”
At a press conference after the talks, Russian president Vladimir Putin was visibly frustrated by this demonstration of solidarity, and questioned its value: "We often hear about the need for solidarity. Are there any limits to solidarity? Are there any questions that should be decided internally?"
The discussions on solidarity are clearly linked to enlargement, since historic disputes and tense relations between Russia and Poland in particular have filtered into relations between the two trading blocs. In the run-up to the summit, when asked about the tensions in EU-Russia relations, an EU spokesperson stated that the “impact of enlargement has been felt by both sides."
An EU diplomat has stated that Russia intends to veto an upcoming UN Security Council Resolution on Kosovo's independece, stating that the future of the province should be decided by Serbia.
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