European Union (EU) foreign ministers wrapped up their two-day meeting in Brdo on Saturday, eyeing closer ties with Russia and the Western Balkan region.
Although the informal meeting was opened with an in-depth discussion on the Middle East, foreign minister from the 27 EU member states were more occupied with the tricky relations with Russia on the first day.
The discussions were designed to make preparations for an EU-Russia summit to take place in Siberia in June. It will be the first summit for the EU to meet with Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev.
The leadership change in Russia gave the EU hope to improve their bilateral ties, which have been clouded by disruptions in energy supply, the deadlock in launching negotiations for a new partnership agreement and their most recent rift on the self-declared independence of Kosovo.
"We will shortly have a new Russian administration, new Russian president and new Russian prime minister. Even if I am not expecting a major policy shift, I think there is an opportunity and we should take this opportunity to open a new chapter in our partnership with Russia," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.
Her call was echoed by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
"Russia has voted. There will be a new President Medvedev and I believe that is an opportunity that we should use," he told reporters on arrival for the meeting.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband described the Russian leadership change as "an important moment for the European relations with Russia," adding the bilateral relations should be based on equal footing.
In a positive signal, EU foreign ministers on Friday nearly agreed to break the two-year deadlock in launching negotiations for a new partnership agreement.
The new agreement will cover wide-ranging issues from trade to energy, human rights and political cooperation, setting basis for the future EU-Russia relations.
However, the start of the negotiations was effectively blocked by Poland and Lithuania since 2006 because Russia imposed a two-year ban on Polish meat supplies and cut off oil supplies to a Lithuanian refinery which was sold to a Polish company rather than a Russian rival.
Though differences remain, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the EU presidency, sounded optimistic.
"We all endorse the idea of a negotiating mandate to be finalized and adopted as soon as possible. We hope this will be possible in April, so we can start with negotiations under the Slovenian presidency," which expires in June, he said after consulting with his EU colleagues.
However, Ferrero-Waldner said that the EU countries should act coherently in dealing with Russia in order to pursue their overall interests, especially when negotiating with Russia on the new partnership agreement.
"I think this agreement is the way we can best use our collective negotiating leverage to pursue outcomes that serve our interests," she said.
On the second day, EU foreign ministers turned their eyes to their doorsteps -- the Western Balkan region, aiming to bring countries there closer to the EU membership.
"This year can be a decisive year for the Western Balkans ... I' m very convinced we can accelerate the process of European integration this year," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.
Rupel, who chaired the two- day informal EU meeting, said the ministers had sought to give a fresh impetus to the Thessaloniki agenda, a strategy giving a European perspective to the Western Balkans, including Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
However, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic chose to hold a separate meeting with EU foreign ministers, instead of joining other Western Balkan courtiers later Saturday since Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was also present.
Serbia's future in the EU has been clouded by the self-declared independence of Kosovo and its cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Jeremic on Saturday reaffirmed that Belgrade remains committed to the path of integration into the EU, but not at the price of Kosovo.
During their two-day meeting, EU foreign ministers also rejected the call for a boycott of the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games over the Tibet issue.
"We are separating the issue of human rights dialogue, intercultural dialogue and so on from events like Olympic Games and participation in those," Rupel said.
Source:Xinhua
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