POLAND: Poland has vetoed the start of talks on a new co-operation agreement between the EU and Russia, raising tensions with Moscow and threatening to divide Europe.
Despite coming under considerable pressure from its EU partners at a meeting of foreign ministers yesterday, Warsaw refused to agree a mandate for talks on a strategic partnership deal covering energy, trade and human rights.
The tough stance by Poland comes ahead of an EU-Russia summit on November 24th where Russian president Vladimir Putin was scheduled to launch negotiations on the agreement. Poland wants Russia to lift a ban on Polish food imports and make commitments on energy supplies before talks on a broader agreement can start.
"Russia does not live up to the present agreement. So it is difficult for us to approve negotiations on the next agreement," Polish foreign minister Anna Fotyga said following the meeting in Brussels. "Without a clear political signal from Russia, Poland is not willing to support a negotiating mandate."
EU diplomats said that Poland stood alone in opposing an agreement on the negotiating mandate for the talks and warned that Warsaw's veto could weaken the union's hand in its already strained relations with Russia over energy supplies.
"We all appealed to Poland today to really lift their blockage," said EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. However, she felt there was still time to find an agreement on the negotiating mandate before the summit.
EU ambassadors will discuss the issue again on Wednesday in the hope of finding a compromise. But EU diplomats said the summit would go ahead even if there was no agreement on a mandate for the talks.
Russia strongly condemned the Polish veto yesterday, saying its disputes with Warsaw should be resolved on a bilateral basis.
"It is absolutely obvious that such negotiations must start without any preliminary conditions," said Sergei Yastrzhembsky, Mr Putin's spokesman on EU relations. "It would be strange if these negotiations became hostage to narrow national problems which exist between Russia and certain EU countries," he was quoted as saying. Poland's relationship with Russia is already strained over Moscow's ban on Polish food imports, Warsaw's purchase of 48 F16 fighter aircraft and a growing sense of insecurity in Poland over its reliance on Russian oil and gas supplies.
Last year Russia banned imports of Polish meat and other foods in response to cases of forgery of some veterinary certificates. Warsaw and the EU said the move was unjustified, as Polish food is accepted across the continent, but the ban remains.
On Sunday Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Russia was violating the current EU-Russia co-operation pact which runs until the end of the year by banning imports of Polish meat and many other foods. "We would like EU member states to show solidarity with Poland regarding Russia," he said.
However, Mr Kaczynski's eurosceptic government has angered Brussels and many of its EU partners, leaving it isolated in several recent EU debates. Its tough stance against Moscow is likely to be opposed by Germany and France, which have many business links with Russia.
The EU has prioritised the co-operation pact with Russia to safeguard its energy supplies. Russia supplies a quarter of Europe's oil and gas provisions and the EU is concerned that Russia is using these as a tool to extract political concessions.
Moscow's decision to cut gas supplies to Ukraine in January over a prices dispute - a move that led to shortages in several EU states - has given a sense of urgency to the issue.
At a summit in Finland last month Mr Putin said Russia would place energy at the heart of the next strategic co-operation agreement with the EU. However, it remains unclear whether Russia will agree to open its pipeline infrastructure to competition, a key EU demand.
Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers also warned that Turkey's proposed bid for EU membership should not derail an upcoming summit of EU leaders.
Finland, holder of the rotating EU presidency, said Turkey had just three weeks to open its ports and airports to Cypriot vessels or face consequences for its negotiations with the union. Turkey has so far refused unless an economic blockade of Turkish northern Cyprus is lifted.