EU:The EU has warned Russia to comply with its international obligation to protect diplomats amid growing concern over its relations with Moscow.
The European Commission yesterday took the unusual step of launching a diplomatic mission to Moscow to express its solidarity with Estonia, which has become embroiled in a dispute over a Soviet war memorial.
"We share the concerns about the increasing violence around the Estonian embassy in Moscow," said a commission spokeswoman. "We have already requested for the appointment [ with Moscow]."
Germany, the current holder of the six-month EU presidency, also expressed "grave concern" over developments in relations between Estonia and Russia and strongly urged Moscow to protect EU diplomats.
The violence at Estonia's embassy in Moscow is just the latest in a series of disputes that have caused EU-Russia relations to reach their lowest point in years. Energy, trade and human rights issues dominated an orientation debate on EU-Russia relations held by the European Commission yesterday during its regular meeting of all 27 commissioners.
The debate scoped out the major points of contention arising between the two economic blocs ahead of a planned EU-Russia summit on May 18th.
Berlin had hoped to begin talks on a new wide-ranging EU- Russia partnership agreement at the summit to cover everything from energy to human rights.
However, Warsaw is refusing to allow the talks to begin until Moscow agrees to drops an embargo on Polish meat imports.
Some diplomats in Brussels have also indicated that the summit could be postponed if the current dispute between Estonia and Russia continues.