AFP, LUXEMBOURG: The European Union and Russia averted a crisis in relations with a last-minute deal on Tuesday to extend their political and economic ties to eight former Soviet satellite states and two other countries which join the EU this weekend.
Russia's insistence on safeguarding the rights of Russian-speaking minorities in two Baltic states, Estonia and Latvia, held up renewal of its Partnership and Cooperation Accord (PCA) with its huge western trading partner until only five days before the EU expands from 15 members to 25.
The agreement was signed by EU External Relations Commissioner Patten, Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, the current president of the bloc's policy-making council of ministers, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Renewal of the accord should help in negotiations for Russia's bid for membership in the World Trade Organization.
Russia is the largest economy to have failed to achieve membership in the WTO, in part because of its decision to subsidize its energy and agriculture markets. It needs the approval of WTO members to join the 147-member body, where the EU will soon have a weight equal to that of the United States.
The expanded Union will account for 55 percent of Russian trade, but Moscow expressed concern that changes to customs and duty laws which eastern European countries would be obliged to make under EU rules would make Russian imports more expensive.
The EU Commission argued that extension of the agreement with Russia to new members should be automatic, but Russia insisted first on getting answers to 14 questions.
Among these was its concern about extra levies placed by the new EU nations on transit of goods between Russia and its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, which lies between Lithuania and Poland and will soon be surrounded by EU territory.
Most problems were effectively ironed out when European Commmission head Romano Prodi travelled to Moscow with a large delegation last week.
The rights of Russian-speaking minorities in Estonia and Latvia proved the last stumbling block.
Unlike other new EU entrants — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia — the Baltic states were not just satellites of Mosocow's empire but part of the Soviet Union itself.
The two Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta make up the complement of the 10 entrants joining on May 1.
The Baltic states were the last republics to be absorbed into the USSR and the first to split away when it collapsed in 1991, and they have refused to join the 12 other former Soviet republics in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Despite the renewal of the partnership accord, the EU says difficult issues including tariffs in the auto, aerospace and beverage sectors must be settled with Russia before it will back Moscow's bid to join the WTO.
“Even if many problems have grown smaller, difficult questions remain,” European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy told reporters in Luxembourg on Monday.
He voiced “prudence” about the possibility of reaching a trade agreement at the next EU-Russia summit on May 21.
Lamy hailed “relatively clear signals” regarding energy issues given last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, but added details had to be finalised on access to Russian oil piplines and prices.
Another problem to be resolved is Siberian overflight fees, which European countries want to see come down.
