15-IX-08, euobserver:
2. Some EU states to hold back on Georgia mission - 15.09.2008 - 09:29
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EU ministers will on Monday gather in Brussels to decide the composition of
the bloc's peace mission to Georgia, with a question mark over where the EU
force will be deployed. The ministers are also unlikely to unfreeze the
trade-related part of a pre-accession deal with Serbia.
http://euobserver.com/9/26736/?rk=1
10. Russia opens door to better relations with Poland - 11.09.2008 - 09:37
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Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has suggested Moscow and Warsaw
could improve relations, despite Poland's decision to host a US missile
shield. But a new argument has broken out over the deployment of EU
monitors in Georgia.
http://euobserver.com/9/26730/?rk=1
20. Ukraine's borders 'non-negotiable,' EU says - 10.09.2008 - 09:39
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EU leaders underlined their support for Ukraine's territorial integrity at
the EU-Ukraine summit in Paris on Tuesday, as the Russian-backed
partitioning of Georgia continues to raise fears of instability further
afield.
http://euobserver.com/24/26720/?rk=1
21. EU secures deal on Russia withdrawal - 09.09.2008 - 09:28
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Following four-hour talks between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and
French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, Moscow has agreed to withdraw all its troops
by mid-October from Georgian territory to positions held prior to the
conflict over South Ossetia. The pull-out would occur once 200 EU monitors
have been deployed.
http://euobserver.com/24/26708/?rk=1
22. EU-Ukraine summit masks disappointment - 09.09.2008 - 09:23
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EU and Ukraine leaders will celebrate a "great day" as they unveil plans
for a new bilateral treaty in Paris on Tuesday, but behind the fanfare,
Ukraine diplomats are disappointed at being denied an EU membership
perspective.
http://euobserver.com/24/26711/?rk=1
8-IX-08, euobserver:
1. EU mission to press Moscow on troop withdrawal - 08.09.2008 - 09:22
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A top EU delegation is heading to Russia to convince the country's
leadership to withdraw its troops from Georgian territory to positions held
before the conflict over South Ossetia. The EU is set to monitor the
withdrawal and to seek a probe into who is to blame for the war's outbreak.
http://euobserver.com/9/26701/?rk=1
3. EU breaks the ice with Belarus - 08.09.2008 - 08:37
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The European Commission has proposed inviting Belarus foreign minister
Sergei Martynov to a high-level EU meeting, breaking a four-year long taboo
on contact with the eastern European dictatorship.
http://euobserver.com/9/26703/?rk=1
4. EU ministers map out Georgia peace mission - 05.09.2008 - 12:38
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The final shape of an EU security mission to Georgia and broader EU-Russia
relations will top the agenda of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in France
this weekend. The possibility of relaxing sanctions against Belarus and
prospects for a new Ukraine treaty will also come up for debate.
http://euobserver.com/9/26696/?rk=1
7. Bilateral energy deals threaten EU security, IEA says - 05.09.2008 - 09:31
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EU capitals should create a united front in order to beef up their position
vis-a-vis major energy suppliers such as Russia, the International Energy
Agency has suggested. Meanwhile, Brussels has reiterated the case for the
Nabucco energy pipeline.
http://euobserver.com/9/26688/?rk=1
12. EU keeps Ukraine at arm's length as government wobbles - 04.09.2008 - 10:23
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The upcoming EU-Ukraine summit is heading for embarrassment as EU states
continue to hold back an accession "perspective" for Ukraine, while a fresh
row between Ukrainian President, Viktor Yushchenko, and Prime Minister,
Yulia Tymoshenko, may see yet another government fold.
http://euobserver.com/9/26687/?rk=1
13. [Comment] After Georgia: is Ukraine next? - 05.09.2008 - 13:09
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The EU should give Ukraine rhetorical support for future membership, better
travel prospects and new security guarantees in the light of Russia's
conflict with Georgia, Andrew Wilson of the European Council on Foreign
Relations says.
http://euobserver.com/9/26697/?rk=1
15. [Comment] Better Russia as an ally than a foe - 04.09.2008 - 17:45
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Talk of a new cold war and of punishing Russia for the Georgian imbroglio
is short-sighted, argues Peter Sain ley Berry. It matters to Europe and
Russia that we both adhere to a rules-based international order. We should
lay aside our differences and concentrate on how this might be achieved.
http://euobserver.com/9/26689/?rk=1
16. Baltic states need NATO help, US says - 03.09.2008 - 09:28
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NATO should show Russia it would defend the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania - in the event of attack, the US has said, as Russia's recent
invasion of Georgia continues to send ripples through European security
arrangements.
http://euobserver.com/24/26679/?rk=1
17. EU-Russia talks suspended until Moscow withdraws troops - 01.09.2008 - 21:21
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EU leaders on Monday agreed to postpone talks on a new EU-Russia
partnership until Russian troops withdraw from Georgia following the
insistence of a number of member states.
http://euobserver.com/24/26670/?rk=1
18. OSCE denies report 'censuring' Georgia - 01.09.2008 - 21:21
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The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe has denied that it
strongly censured Tblisi for the South Ossetian conflict in August,
following the publication of articles in the German press that internal
reports from the regional security organisation had attacked the Georgian
leadership.
http://euobserver.com/24/26669/?rk=1
19. Russia calls for arms embargo on Georgia - 01.09.2008 - 15:52
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Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has called for an international arms
embargo to be placed on Georgia. Moscow has also accused the United States
of arming the Georgian military. Speaking in Brussels, a US State
Department official rubbished the idea.
http://euobserver.com/24/26665/?rk=1
1-IX-08, euobserver:
1. Russian threats loom over historic EU summit - 01.09.2008 - 09:27
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EU leaders are holding an emergency summit on EU-Russia relations on Monday
- the first such extraordinary meeting since the 9/11 attacks in the US.
But the union is split on how to handle Moscow, with the Kremlin
threatening to retaliate against Europe if it adopts punitive sanctions.
http://euobserver.com/9/26662/?rk=1
3. Finland and Sweden revive debates on NATO membership - 01.09.2008 - 09:27
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Until recently, discussion of possible NATO membership has not been a
lively political topic in neutral Finland and Sweden, but Russia's actions
in Georgia have encouraged those who back membership to become more vocal.
http://euobserver.com/9/26664/?rk=1
4. EU capital faces Georgia and Russia propaganda campaign - 30.08.2008 - 17:02
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The guns may have fallen silent in Georgia but the propaganda war on who
started the conflict has just begun, with Russia and Georgia each selling
their side of the story to diplomats, MEPs and media in Brussels.
http://euobserver.com/9/26659/?rk=1
5. EU sanctions would be 'grave mistake,' Russia says - 29.08.2008 - 09:25
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As the European Union considers imposing sanctions against Russia over its
recognition of independence for Georgia's rebel regions, Moscow has said
that any punitive measures would be a "grave mistake," harming the
27-nation bloc as much as Russia itself.
http://euobserver.com/9/26655/?rk=1
6. Spats over who gets to go to EU summit break out in Poland, Finland - 29.08.2008 - 09:30
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The emergency European summit called to tackle the Georgian crisis and
forge a common European position on the issue is itself causing divisions -
but over who gets to go to the extraordinary meeting of EU leaders.
http://euobserver.com/9/26658/?rk=1
8. Germany and Russia threaten EU-Ukraine relations - 28.08.2008 - 17:44
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Germany's close relations with Russia are the main obstacle to signing a
major EU-Ukraine treaty at the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit in France,
Ukraine diplomats say, warning that failure to seal the deal will signal to
Moscow that it can veto EU policy on post-Soviet states.
http://euobserver.com/9/26653/?rk=1
10. EU fears Russian action in Ukraine and Moldova - 28.08.2008 - 08:30
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French and UK foreign ministers have voiced fears Russia may be planning
Georgia-type scenarios in EU neighbours Ukraine and Moldova, amid rising
tension between Ukraine and Russia and fresh calls for independence by
Moldovan rebels.
http://euobserver.com/9/26649/?rk=1
14. [Comment] The EU should re-engage with Moldova's 'frozen conflict' - 30.08.2008 - 17:51
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Recently, the EU has learned that a war over an obscure place such as South
Ossetia can shatter the arrangements of post-Cold War Europe. Without
stronger engagement with neighbours such as Moldova, the EU might end up
with a bi-polar Europe, not a "ring of friends" in its neighbourhood, the
European Council on Foreign Relations' Nicu Popescu says.
http://euobserver.com/9/26661/?rk=1
15. [Comment] The West must stop bullying Russia - 29.08.2008 - 19:03
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The Russians have now said: This far, but no farther. It would be wise of
the West to listen to the warning. It is not in its own best interest to
continue bullying and humiliating Russia, writes Jan Oberg.
http://euobserver.com/9/26656/?rk=1
16. France accuses Russia of ethnic cleansing - 27.08.2008 - 10:04
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Talk of "war" and "ethnic cleansing" hit European TV channels on Tuesday,
as France and Russia debated Moscow's backing of rebel groups in Georgia.
Meanwhile, the French EU presidency binned a proposal to invite Georgia's
president to next week's EU summit.
http://euobserver.com/24/26647/?rk=1
17. EU leaders condemn Russia in shadow of Kosovo - 26.08.2008 - 17:59
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EU leaders have condemned as illegal Russia's decision to recognise the
Georgian breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, while Georgian
rebels compared the move to the creation of Kosovo earlier this year.
http://euobserver.com/24/26644/?rk=1
18. Georgian rebels seek greater EU recognition - 25.08.2008 - 18:00
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The Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia is keen to get EU recognition as
an independent country, after the Russian parliament passed a resolution
urging the Russian president to endorse Georgian rebels' ambitions of
statehood.
http://euobserver.com/24/26640/?rk=1
19. EU should save Ukraine from Russia, NGO says - 25.08.2008 - 13:29
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The European Union should formally recognise Ukraine's right to join the EU
and offer it a "solidarity clause" to help prevent Russia from undermining
Kiev's pro-democratic government in the wake of the Georgia conflict, a
leading think-tank has said.
http://euobserver.com/24/26638/?rk=1
21. Bulgaria makes case for Nabucco pipeline - 28.08.2008 - 09:05
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Bulgaria has called on the EU to throw all its weight behind the Nabucco
energy corridor, a pipeline designed to lessen the bloc's dependency on
Russian gas.
http://euobserver.com/19/26651/?rk=1