11/17/2006

Finnish PM to visit Poland in effort to resolve deadlock over EU-Russian talks

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen will fly to Warsaw this week to try to salvage talks on a political and economic cooperation agreement with Russia, which the Polish government is trying to veto.

Vanhanen, who holds the EU's rotating presidency, will meet his Polish counterpart Jaroslaw Kaczynski on Friday, a week before an EU summit with President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

EU officials had hoped the Nov. 24 meeting with Putin would lead to the launch of negotiations to cement closer ties with Russia on issues ranging from energy to human rights.

However the Polish government has said it will veto the start of negotiations unless Russia lifts a ban it imposed on meat and some other farm products from Poland last year. Warsaw also wants Russia to give stronger guarantees on energy supplies.
Polish officials estimate that the Russian ban affects 11 percent of Warsaw's exports to Russia and is costing Poland €400 million (US$512 million) a year in lost sales.

The new EU-Russia partnership accord is to replace a 1997 agreement that remains in effect until a new one is signed.
Source:iht.com



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