EU: European Union foreign ministers have told Russia it must sign a new agreement on trade and other issues without preconditions or risk a "serious impact on EU-Russia relations".
The ministers said they would discuss any legitimate Russian concerns over the impact of EU enlargement but emphasised that such talks would be entirely separate from discussions on the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement between the EU and Russia.
Moscow is refusing to accept a permanent extension of the agreement to include the EU's 10 new member-states because it fears that lower tariffs on central and eastern European exports could cost Russia up to €300 million in trade losses. Russia is also seeking to link the agreement's extension to its concerns about the status of Russian minorities in the three Baltic states that will join the EU on May 1st.
In a joint statement yesterday, the EU foreign ministers said that enlargement offered new opportunities for co-operation between the EU and Russia.
"The council confirms that the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) remains the essential cornerstone of the European Union's relationship with Russia. It emphasises that the PCA has to be applied to the EU-25 without pre-condition or distinction by May 1st, 2004. To do so would avoid a serious impact on EU-Russia relations in general. The timely extension of the PCA will allow Russia to benefit from the many advantages accruing to it from EU enlargement, including in the trade field. The EU is open to discuss any of Russia's legitimate concerns over the impact of enlargement, but this shall remain entirely separate from PCA extension," the statement said.
Failure to agree an extension of the PCA by May 1st would leave without any formal basis the trade relationship between Russia and the EU, which is a huge consumer of Russian fuel.
The French foreign minister, Mr Dominique de Villepin, said that the EU regarded extending the PCA as a matter of principle.
"What was valid for the 15 is valid for the 25. Our Russian friends have got to understand this," he said.
The foreign ministers also discussed last week's parliamentary elections in Iran, expressing "deep regret and disappointment" that large numbers of reformist candidates were prevented from standing.
"This interference was a setback for the democratic process in Iran. The council expressed the hope that Iran will return to the path of reform and democratisation," they said.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, won the backing of other ministers for the Irish presidency's strategy of encouraging both sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict to take a series of small steps to implement the Road Map for peace.
Responding to the Israeli government's plan to withdraw settlements from the Gaza Strip, Mr Cowen said any withdrawal must fulfil a number of conditions, including assurances that settlement activity in Gaza would not be transferred to the West Bank.