EU-DIGEST

Labels: EU, France, Russia

President Dmitry Medvedev and his French host President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed their consistency on such burning issues as Iran’s nuclear program, European security reforms and global warming. Medvedev and Sarkozy addressed the media after their bilateral meeting in Paris Monday and summarized the results of the talks.

Labels: EU, France, Russia

Labels: EU, Greece, Russia

The plans to build the politically and environmentally controversial Nord Stream pipeline have been in the air since 1997. With Finland and Sweden finally saying “yes” to the pipeline in their waters, the wheels of construction are now in full speed with the first line to be opened in the 2011. This will bring relief to Europe that is struggling with energy supply--yet not everyone is a winner.

The European Union accounts for 16% of the World's energy consumption but has only 6 % of the world's population. Natural gas comprises 24% of EU energy consumption. EU27 in 2007 consumed 505 bcm of natural gas per year according to Eurogas. This is expected to increase to 578 bcm by 2020 (estimations vary, some analysts claim that the gas consumption will decrease drastically). 40 % (128 bcm) of the natural gas is imported from Russia. The EU is also estimated to import 70% - 80 % of its energy supplies by 2030 as the North Sea gas supplies are diminishing; over 60 % of natural gas imports are expected to come from Russia. 10 % of the total EU gas demand would be covered by the Nord Stream. Natural gas will remain the fuel of preference for the EU because of its greener properties. In addition to that, phasing out nuclear power stations puts more strain on alternative energy sources. The pipelines that are running through Ukraine are aging and it is debatable at what capacity they would be running at by 2020: The EU offered Ukraine a loan of $2.5bn to revamp its pipeline infrastructure in March 2009, but it is debatable if this money went to pipeline upgrade projects as a proportion of that loan would have gone to repay existing gas debts to Russia; according to prime minister Tymoshenko, Ukraine would need an extra $3.5bn for the revamp of current pipelines.

Labels: Baltic Pipeline, Energy, EU, Gas Supplies, Russia

France is defending its approval of warship sales to Russia, amid concerns from the US and former Soviet republics. If completed, the deal would be the first major military sale by a NATO member to Russia, and would significantly boost the Russian Navy's capabilities.

Reuters reported that other NATO members and former Soviet republics, such as Lithuania and Georgia, have expressed concern about the deal. The assault ships are able to carry helicopters, troops, armored vehicles, and tanks. This advanced technology could potentially be used against NATO members or small, non-NATO Russian neighbors such as Georgia.

Note EU-Digest: The concerns by former Soviet Republics on this issue certainly do not outweigh Russia's long term relationship with the EU.

Labels: EU, France, Military, Russia

Vladimir Putin praised the maiden flight of Russia’s new stealth plane as “a big step” towards giving the air force a fighter fit for the twenty first century.

The Russian prime minister told a cabinet meeting he wanted the first batch of T-50 stealth fighters to be in service by 2013, well ahead of earlier deadlines. The fighter will be the first all-new military aircraft Russia has built since the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly two decades ago. Russian aviation and air force officials lost little time in boasting that the plane would equal if not better America's F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.

Experts believe the T-50s maiden test flight underlines the Kremlin's determination to overhaul its ageing Soviet-era military hardware even as it is locked in key nuclear arms reductions talks with the United States.

Labels: Aircraft Industry, Russia

Labels: Belarus, Russia

The permission was issued by Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency in Hamburg. Earlier, Germany permitted the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in its territorial wasters.

Nord Stream AG, the project operator, has already received permits from Denmark, Sweden and Russia through whose waters the pipeline will pass, and also the Finnish exclusive economic zone permit and a permit for the 50-kilometer (31-mile) section of the pipeline in German territorial waters and landfall in Lubmin near Greifswald.

Nord Stream AG only has to obtain the second and final permit from Finland for the project’s construction.

Labels: EU, Gas Supplies, Russia

Labels: EU, Nuclear energy, Russia

Labels: Russia

Russia expects a continuation of its strategic partnership with the European Union following yesterday's election of the bloc's first president, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. "We look forward to cooperation with the new EU leadership," Lavrov said. "I am sure that Herman Van Rompuy will continue pursuing a line toward developing strategic partnership with Russia." Russia and the EU held a summit earlier this week, highlighting their cooperation on climate change, energy supplies and trade. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the talks "one of the best meetings we have had." Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev was also positive over the outcomes of the meeting. The parties strove to repair ties, strained among other issues by last year's Georgia war, but the summit produced no breakthrough in signing a new comprehensive partnership pact to replace a treaty that expired in 2007.

Labels: EU, Russia

US President Barack Obama "does not care very much" about security in Europe, said Edward Lucas, who has been The Economist's Eastern Europe correspondent for more than 20 years, who told this to EurActiv in a Slovakia interview.Well, I think one of the dreadful consequences of the war in Georgia was that it showed how divided the EU and NATO are in their dealings with Russia. The EU imposed very light sanctions and then dropped them; NATO went back to business-as-usual quite quickly.

Labels: EU, Russia, US

Russia and China are each pursuing plans to beat Airbus and Boeing to the market with new narrow body commercial jets. With the Western air framers yet to commit to time frames for refreshment of their narrow body families, the Commercial Air Corporation of China (Comac) and Russia's United Aircraft (UAC) are aiming to bring new airliners to the market in 2016. Specifications for the C919 narrow body passenger jet in development by Comac were revealed during the Asian Aerospace exhibition in Hong Kong in September, where the manufacturer displayed a large-scale concept model.

Labels: Aircraft Industry, China, Russia

Russia-US: Will Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev form a US-Russia alliance? - Sergey Karaganov

In the late Eighties, as Mikhail Gorbachev was steering the Soviet Union away from its standoff with the West in a bid for a “new thinking” foreign policy, Georgiy Arbatov, a prominent foreign policy expert, made a remark: we will do the most horrible thing to you; we will leave you without an enemy. Barack Obama seems to be doing something similarly horrible to the entire world by depriving it of a long-established opponent and scapegoat. Bush and Clinton before him (though considerably less resented) were convenient bogeymen for both US rivals and allies. Governments could comfortably blame Washington for all their national and global mishaps and cite its rigid unilateralism to account for their own inaction.

Yet, both the American elite and general public found the strength to veer off the self-destructive course and elect Obama, a president representing hope and change.The new president has launched a radical overhaul of American foreign policy. Obama put forward a new philosophy of cooperation in place of unilateral leadership and global domination, discarded the democratic messianism, replaced the ill-concealed hostility to the Islamic world with words of respect and friendship, and made statements signalling a political U-turn on climate change.

Labels: Russia, US

Germany backs global arms trade treaty, China and Russia abstain

Germany, along with other key United Nations members, has backed talks on a global treaty to regulate the global trade of weapons. Two major arms suppliers, Russia and China, refused to support the measure.The United Nations resolution calls for talks aimed at agreeing a treaty to police the world's 37-billion-euro ($55-billion) arms trade.US President Barack Obama decided to back the treaty providing that the final round of talks, set for 2012, were run on the basis of consensus, granting countries veto powers. Germany and several other states, were angered by that demand, arguing it would lead to a watered-down treaty. Diplomats said Britain had persuaded Berlin that US involvement would strengthen the legitimacy of any treaty, as Washington controls around two-thirds of the global arms trade.

Labels: Arms sales, China, EU, Russia, US

Russian rights trio win top EU assembly prize

Three Russian rights defenders landed the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize on Thursday -- but one cited mixed feelings, saying all a murdered fellow-activist got was "a bullet." The 2009 award of the prestigious prize went to Oleg Orlov, Lyudmila Alexeyeva and Sergei Kovalev and "all the other human rights defenders in Russia." The award was given in the name of Natalya Estemirova, an activist for the rights group Memorial, who was shot dead in July after being kidnapped in Chechnya.

Labels: Human Rights, Russia

In Russia, Putin’s democracy looking more like a facade - by Fred Weir

Former leader Mikhail Gorbachev and others are outraged after last week's elections. A public opinion survey published this week by the daily Noviye Izvestia newspaper found that just 3 percent of respondents believe the elections were a fair and true democratic exercise. A third thought that UR’s victory was due to “massive falsifications” while a further 44 percent said the party benefited unduly from its command of “administrative resources,” meaning official influence, state media backing, and access to government funds.

Yabloko has documented multiple cases of what is says is official fraud, coercion, and other legal violations in the election campaign and subsequent voting, some of which has been translated and posted on the party’s English-language website http://www.eng.yabloko.ru/. But Mitrokhin’s outrage over what looks like the most seriously miscarried electoral exercise in Russia’s post-Soviet history has been increasingly echoed by independent commentators, including the father of Russia’s troubled democracy, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Labels: Democracy, Elections, Russia

Russia, Serbia agree natural gas storage deal

Russian energy giant Gazprom and Serbia's state gas company have initialed an agreement to set up a joint venture to develop a Serbian underground gas depot, Srbijagas said on Thursday. The agreement on Banatski Dvor is part of a bilateral governmental deal on cooperation in the oil and gas sector sealed between the two countries in 2008. "Srbijagas General Director Dusan Bajatovic said the agreement will be signed during a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Belgrade on October 20," the company's press service said on Wednesday.

Labels: Russia, Serbia

Can Saudi Weapons Deal Prod Russia To Turn Back on Iran? - by Daniel Carty

Saudi Arabia is looking to purchase billions of dollars in weapons from Russia in an effort to get the Kremlin to scrap plans to sell surface-to-missile Iran.But official Russian sources have not confirmed the Kremlin's willingness to agree to such a deal, reports CBS News' Alexei Kuxnetsov. In fact, even analysts with knowledge of the Kremlin’s policies sounded rather skeptical.According to the Financial Times, Saudi Arabia's offer to buy the latest version of the system, the S-400 – akin to the U.S. Patriot missile defense system – for $2 billion is the latest attempt to get Moscow to back out of its deal with Tehran.Alexander Khramchikhin, a senior analyst with the Institute for Political and Military Analysis in Moscow, told Kuznetsov that while a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia could be theoretically possible, a "number of stumbling blocks" make its probability near zero.

Khramchikhin also said Saudi Arabia represents a "dubious partner with quite a shady reputation" to the Kremlin. "The country has been a source of financing of international terrorism for decades and officially professes Wahhabism as its main religion. Given the years-long campaign against Islamic separatists in Russia’s north Caucasus, the Kremlin should by definition be allergic to dealing with any country where Wahhabism is the state religion," he said.

Labels: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Weapon Sales

Why Europe welcomes US missile defense shield decision

With President Barack Obama facing Republican charges that backing off a missile shield in eastern Europe is appeasing Russia and abandoning Poland, European officials are strongly applauding the American decision. German and French diplomats see the White House move as changing a US policy imposed unilaterally on Europe – and allowing greater running room with Moscow on issues from Iran to North Korea, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, and with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. But Alexander Rahr of the German Council of Foreign Relations, a Russian expert, says the original US missile shield plan was ill-conceived. He says that in eastern Europe and Russia the decision to shelve it is raising a new question: "Is Obama doing this out of American strength, or out of American weakness?" He adds, "I know that sounds pretty 19th century. But that's the question."

Labels: EU, Missile Defence, Russia

Russian premier Putin says US dollar issuance 'uncontrolled', calls for diversified reserves - Sergei Venyavsky

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday said other currencies besides the dollar should be used as global reserves to reduce the risks posed by swelling U.S. debt. Putin, who spoke at an international investment forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, chided the United States for "an uncontrolled issue of dollars" and said the American currency's dominance had been "one of the triggers" of the global crisis. Putin renewed Russia's call on the U.S. administration and global community to give the green light to alternative reserve currencies: "If there are several reserve currencies, this will not harm the U.S. economy in any way."Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday said other currencies besides the dollar should be used as global reserves to reduce the risks posed by swelling U.S. debt.

Putin, who spoke at an international investment forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, chided the United States for "an uncontrolled issue of dollars" and said the American currency's dominance had been "one of the triggers" of the global crisis. Putin renewed Russia's call on the U.S. administration and global community to give the green light to alternative reserve currencies: "If there are several reserve currencies, this will not harm the U.S. economy in any way."

Labels: monetary stability, Russia, US, Vladimir Putin, World Economy

Russia, Poland Locked in Controversy Over World War II Commemorations

Commemorations have begun in Poland to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. The ceremonies began on the Westerplatte Peninsula near Gdansk in northern Poland, where a German battleship fired the first shots of the war on a small Polish military outpost on September 1, 1939. Leaders from across Europe have gathered in Gdansk to take part in the event. Standing at a Soviet-era memorial early this morning, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned about the danger of forgetting the war's lessons. "We meet here to remember who started this war, who was the perpetrator of this war, who was the executioner in this war, and who was the victim of this war and this aggression," he said.

In a newspaper interview on August 31, Putin called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact "immoral." But he said Moscow had no choice but to sign the agreement to postpone war after Western powers concluded their own agreement with Germany. He said the 1938 Munich Agreement ended "all hope of creating a united front against fascism."

Labels: EU, Poland, Russia

'Dirty timebomb' ticking in Russian nuclear dump threatens Europe - Rachel Shields

20,000 discarded uranium fuel rods stored in the Arctic Circle are corroding. The possible result? Detonation of a massive radioactive bomb experts say could rival the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. A decaying Russian nuclear dump inside the Arctic Circle is threatening to catch fire or explode, turning it into a "dirty bomb" that could impact the whole of northern Europe, including the British Isles. Experts predict that a major explosion at Andreeva Bay could destroy all life in a 32-mile radius, including Murmansk and a sliver of Norway, whose border is only 28 miles away. But a much wider area of Norway, north-west Russia and Finland would be rendered uninhabitable for at least 20 years, and huge quantities of radioactive material would be dumped into the Barents Sea. "In the best case a small, limited explosion in just one of the stored rods could lead to radioactive contamination in a 5km radius," Aleksandr Nikitin, a Russian former submarine officer and nuclear safety inspector turned environmental activist, told the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. "In the worst case, such a single explosion could cause the entire tank facility to explode. We have no calculations for what that could lead to."

Mr Nikitin, whose work for Bellona led to continuing treason charges in Russia, added: "We are sitting on a powder keg with a burning fuse, and we can only guess about the length of the fuse." Nils Bohmer, nuclear physicist and head of Bellona's Russian division, told the newspaper: "It will at least, at a careful estimate, hit northern Europe. There are enormous amounts of radioactivity stored in these tanks."

Labels: Environment, Nuclear Waste, Pollution and the environment, Russia

Russia is worried about North Korean missile and nuclear tests and has deployed sophisticated air defences in its Far East region to protect against any potential test mishap, Russia's top general said on Wednesday. "We have an S-400 division there," said General Nikolai Makarov, chief of staff of the Russian armed forces, confirming that Russia had deployed its most advanced anti-missile defence system near the border with North Korea. "We are indeed worried about the way testing, including tests of nuclear devices, is being conducted in North Korea," said Makarov, who was accompanying President Dmitry Medvedev on a visit to Mongolia.

Labels: Military, North Korea, Russia

Mystery ship being checked by Russia for secret cargo

Russia's top general said on Thursday the military would search the Arctic Sea for any possible secret cargo when it returned to Russia from a maritime odyssey that made headlines round the world. Russia says the Maltese-registered Arctic Sea, officially carrying timber from Finland to Algeria, was hijacked by eight men off the coast of Sweden on July 24. Russian warships found the ship in the Atlantic off the Cape Verde islands on Aug. 17. Russia has released little information about the ship and the eight men - citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Russia - suspected of hijacking it are in Moscow's high security Lefortovo prison. Piracy is extremely rare in well-policed northern European waters and maritime experts have asked why anyone would risk seizing an elderly ship carrying $US2 million worth of timber and then sail for Africa. "We do not rule out the possibility that they might have been carrying not only timber," Alexander Bastrykin, head of the the prosecutor-general's main investigations unit, said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta published on Wednesday.

Labels: Military, Piracy, Russia

Russia plans to buy an advanced warship from France this year, a top general said on Wednesday, in what would be the country's first major foreign military purchase and a blow to domestic arms producers. Gen. Nikolai Makarov, the chief of Russia's general staff, said that before the end of the year the navy planned to agree the purchase of a 21,300 ton Mistral-class helicopter carrier. The deal would be Russia's biggest one-off post-Soviet purchase of weapons abroad, representing a major departure for the Kremlin, which has traditionally been protective of domestic arms producers.

The Kremlin has made re-equipping the 1.1 million-strong armed forces a top priority after last year's war in Georgia revealed serious problems with hardware and electronic equipment. The appearance of NATO warships in the Black Sea during the war also highlighted the problem of upgrading Moscow's Soviet-era navy. But a series of accidents, including the sinking of the Nerpa submarine last year with the loss of 20 crew and five failed tests of the new Bulava intercontinental missile have exposed serious problems with Russian military technology.

Labels: EU, France, Military, Russia

Russia dam disaster toll rises to 66

The confirmed death toll from the disaster at Russia's largest hydroelectric plant rose to 66 on Saturday, with nine people still listed as missing, a spokesman for the search and rescue team said. "Two more bodies have been found which means that the death toll stands at 66," with nine people still missing, said the spokesman for the rescue operation at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power plant in Siberia, according to Russian news agencies. The catastrophe is believed to have been triggered Monday when a technical problem caused a massive surge of water in the turbine hall, engulfing around 100 workers. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who went to the site of the accident has said there is no hope of finding those listed as missing alive.

Labels: Russia

Turkey woos Russia as EU hopes dim - by Thmas Seibert

As the EU shows little interest in taking Turkey on board as a new member in the near future, Russia has emerged as a powerful new partner for Ankara, providing energy and trade deals and sending a growing number of holidaymakers to Turkey’s sunny coasts. The ever closer relations between Ankara and Moscow is a sign of weakened ties between Turkey and the EU, Nihat Ali Ozcan, an analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation, or Tepav, an Ankara-based think tank, said yesterday. “If things were better with the EU, Turkey would be part of the European approach. But because it is outside that approach, it plays more locally.” Nowhere is that trend more visible than in energy policy.

Note EU-Digest: the ultimate buyer of Russian energy supplies is the EU with its 500 million inhabitants. Turkey might be a player as a major "transfer station" of the Russian energy into the EU, but the the one paying the bills (the EU) for the energy from Russia will be the one calling the shots. Not Turkey.

Labels: EU, Russia, Turkey

Russia - Putin's night out: Vladimir and Dmitry bond over pints and pistachios as they take in a football game - by Will Steward

Vladimir Putin has yet again brandished his macho image, strolling around Russia's top seaside resort watching the football with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev - and posing for pictures with young blondes. The Kremlin prime minister went on a boys' night out with his protege, Dmitry Medvedev, dropping into a sports cafe in Sochi to watch the Russian national team play Argentina.The appearance of the men together was seen as a move to show Russians that they remain united despite rumours to the contrary. For their farewell, Putin gave Medvedev a bear-hug, making clear the premier was the senior partner in their relationship even though he holds the junior office. Medvedev smiled for the cameras. But as he turned away, Russian TV noted his smile evaporated as he took the wheel of his off-roading jeep.

Labels: Russia

Turkey highlighted its growing geopolitical clout in Europe's energy sphere as, less than a month after agreeing a deal over and hosting the signing ceremony for the EU-backed Nabucco gas pipeline, it agreed to allow its territorial waters to be used for Russia's rival South Stream gas pipeline. On August 6, visiting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and agreed to embark on an environmental study in Turkish waters for the €8.6bn South Stream pipeline, which when completed at the end of 2015 will transport up to 63bn cubic metres of Russian gas per year (cm/y) from Russia's Black Sea coast, through Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, and on to Italy and Austria. Turkey also got a 20-year extension on its contract to buy Russian gas, which runs out in 2011. Turkey is Russia's third-largest gas customer after Germany and Italy, buying 24.5bn cm/y last year, according to Gazprom data. Turkey has complained about the high price it pays for this gas; Putin said the contract was renewed on favourable terms to Turkey, but the details remain unclear.

Labels: Economy, EU, Russia, Turkey

Russia and the great natural gas balancing act

Russia controls the world's largest gas reserves, but a combination of factors, including power production, climate change and logistics, are keeping it from reaping the greatest benefits.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was in Ankara on Thursday to persuade his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to sign up to the agreement. The main reason behind South Stream is Russia's desire to bypass Ukraine - which is the transit route for almost 80 percent of Russian gas to Europe - at all costs. The only way to do that is to route the pipeline through Turkish territorial waters. The other pipeline, Nord Stream, is currently being laid between Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea, entering Swedish, Finnish and Danish territorial waters. Germany is Russia's biggest gas customer in the EU and its second-biggest overall, after Ukraine, which has had a notoriously rocky relationship with Moscow since becoming independent following the fall of the Soviet Union.

Any economist would tell you that the smart thing for Russia to do would be to switch all the gas-fired power plants to coal, and then send all that unused gas to Europe at regular market prices. However, coal-fired power plants emit enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment, and as a signatory to the Kytoto Protocol, Russia is obligated to reduce its carbon output. So Russia has started to go another way and has begun to lean a little on renewable energy like hydropower. According to Alexi Kokorin, climate expert at the Russian branch or the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), this is not a move to be more climate friendly, but only to look more climate friendly.

Labels: EU, Russia

Russia backs EU, not U.S., role in Georgia

Moscow welcomes the work of EU monitors in Georgia, deployed in the Caucasus state a year ago after the Russian invasion, but is opposed to the United States having a role, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.Under a peace deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the European Union has sent 240 unarmed monitors to Georgia to oversee a fragile ceasefire. Georgia now wants the United States to join the monitoring.

"The presence of EU monitors on Georgian territories bordering South Ossetia and Abkhazia is an important stabilizing factor and we support such a presence," Lavrov told state-run television channel Vesti-24.

Labels: EU, Georgia, Russia

Turkey eyes energy role with Russia

Turkey eyes energy role with Russia - by Sibel Utku Bila

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to visit Ankara Thursday for talks expected to focus on energy cooperation amid a growing Turkish role in projects to carry gas and oil to Europe. "Cooperation in the field of energy will be a primary issue on the agenda," an aide to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Situated between Europe and the vast oil and gas fields of the Caspian Sea and the Middle East, Turkey has emerged as a hub for pipelines to supply the energy-hungry West. Hoping to attract Russian and Kazakh oil, Ankara is also promoting a pipeline from its Black Sea port of Samsun to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast, which already serves as a terminal in conduits pumping oil from Azerbaijan and Iraq. Putin's energy agenda in Ankara is likely to include also a long-delayed project to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant.

Despite sometimes shaky political ties, economic exchange between the two countries has boomed since the fall of Communism: in 2008, their trade volume hit 37.8 billion dollars, making Russia Turkey's number one trading partner. Russia supplies about 60 percent of Turkey's gas imports, and more than a million Russian holiday-makers boost Turkey's vital tourism sector each year.

Labels: Gas Supplies, Russia, Turkey

Germany - Russia: The New Ostpolitik

They're Europe's odd couple. At a time when much of the continent is scrambling to find strategies to contain, avoid, and punish a resurgent Russia, Germany is pushing ahead with the most important and surprising post–Cold War alliance in Europe. Once titanic enemies, Germany and Russia are embracing a slew of big business deals that aim for everything from a joint resurgence in the world's nuclear-energy market to taking over a big chunk of GM's European empire. German technology will upgrade Russia's vast railroad network—and while much of Europe seeks to free itself of energy dependence on Russia, Germany's E.On is buying up Russian gas fields.

The stream of agreements reflects the depth of what has become Europe's most powerful new partnership. Based on a history of close ties, a decade long surge in trade and investment, and massive German imports of Russian natural gas, Germany has become not only Russia's most important trading partner, but its principal advocate in the West. Germany has vetoed an EU-wide energy market that would reduce Europe's dependency on Russian supplies, and stayed cool on U.S. plans for missile defense. Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the foreign-affairs committee in the upper house of Russia's Parliament, says Germany was Russia's "biggest helper" in its successful attempt to block the eastward expansion of NATO.

Note EU-Digest: Like the relationship between France and Germany, the relationship between Russia and Germany is pivotal for the stability, prosperity and peace in the EU and will strengthen all partners equally on the worlds political and economic stage.

Labels: EU, France, Germany, Russia

Russia, France, EU up Pressure on Israel to Halt E.J'Lem Building

It seems that the diplomatic pressure on Israel is growing day after day over its building project in the annexed Arab quarter of occupied east Jerusalem, yet the Zionist entity continues to defy the international calls and go on building its illegal settlements at the expense of the Palestinian people and their right to live in their own land and homes. One day after the United States demanded that Israel stop building projects in occupied east Jerusalem, Russia joined the call, urging the Zionist entity to immediately halt construction in the area, and saying that a failure to do so would be a violation of the so-called “road map peace agreement”.

The US, Russia have demanded that Israel suspend a planned housing project on the grounds of the hotel in occupied east Jerusalem. "The settlement should be stopped immediately in line with the road map," AFP quoted Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko as saying, in reference to a plan to build 20 housing units in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied east Jerusalem, near Mount Scopus and the National Police headquarters. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was also quoted by the news agency as saying on Tuesday that France summoned the Israeli ambassador in Paris to demand a halt to the building in occupied east Jerusalem.

Labels: EU, Israel, Palestine, Russia

Sapsan Trains: Looking at the Future Today

A major milestone for German-Russian cooperation, the first state of the art Sapsan high speed train is on its way to Russia. This is the first of eight trains scheduled for delivery with a deadline of 2010. The German company Siemens, in the typical fashion of German engineering, is responsible for constructing the trains. The trains will begin service at the end of 2009 and will be able to travel at an amazing 250km/h.

The high speed trains will be able to offer fares cheaper than air travel, which is highly dependent on oil prices. They will be running the St. Petersburg to Moscow route, previously a totally overnight run. They pose an impressive sight, sleek and aerodynamic. The Sapsan name appears on the trains in the Cyrillic alphabet and they sport the colors of the Russian flag. The sleek design and pointed nose look like an aircraft on the ground, as the passengers will be able to move around in comfort and safety never needing to become airborne. The interior is spacious, comfortable and looks like something from the space age. The control section looks like is has starship control panels. Just to be in it and look at it will be a destination experience.

Labels: High Speed Rail, Russia

Merkel meets Medvedev for talks on trade and human rights - by Neil King

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday for talks dominated by their countries' growing economic ties. The two leaders also addressed the touchy topic of human rights.The two governments also signed a slew of economic partnership deals, including a 500-million-euro ($357 million) credit agreement. The agreements included a joint declaration on energy cooperation and an agreement between Russian Railways and Siemens to establish a joint venture to produce locomotives. In addition, Frankfurt airport operator Fraport is to participate in the expansion of the airport in St Petersburg. The two leaders did not comment on news reports that Russian oil giant Gazprom is interested in a takeover of bankrupt German shipyards in the northern cities of Wismar and Rostock.

Labels: EU, Germany, Investment and Trade, Russia

Russia to resume production of world's largest airplane, Ruslan

Russia will soon resume the production of world’s largest commercial heavy transport plane An-124-100 Ruslan, RIA Novosti news agency reports with reference to the administration of Aviastar-SP Enterprise, which produced the plane before. Physically, the An-124 is similar to the American Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, but has a 25% larger payload, and in lieu of the Galaxy's T-tail, the An-124 uses a conventional empennage, similar in design to that of the Boeing 747. An-124s have been used to carry locomotives, yachts, aircraft fuselages, and a variety of other oversized cargoes. The An-124 is able to kneel to allow easier front loading. Up to 150 tons of cargo can be carried in a military An-124: it can also carry 88 passengers in an upper deck behind the wing centre section. However, due to limited pressurization in the main cargo compartment (3.57 PSI), it seldom carries paratroopers.

Labels: Aircraft Industry, Russia

Russia uncertain about climate plan

During the summit, the G8 industrialized nations and the nine most important emerging powers agreed that developed countries as a whole should cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent but the declaration was promptly undermined when Russia said such a target was unattainable and unacceptable. Obama said, however, that he did not expect an instant meeting of minds. 'And while we don't expect to solve the problem in one meeting, or one summit. I believe we have made important strides forward,' he said. 'I don't think I have to emphasise that climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. The science is clear and conclusive and impacts can no longer be ignored. 'Ice sheets are melting. Sea levels are rising. Our oceans are becoming more acidic, and we've already seen its effects on weather patterns, our food and water sources, our health and our habitats,' he said.

Labels: G8, Global warming, Greenhouse warming, Russia

In Russia, President Obama Explains His Support for Ousted President of Honduras In Russia, President Obama Explains His Support for Ousted President of Honduras

Facing criticism for having backed the “wrong” side in the recent coup in Honduras, President Obama Tuesday tried to explain his advocacy on behalf of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. “America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies,” the president told graduate students at the commencement ceremony of Moscow’s New Economic School. “We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not."

The president’s remarks came in the midst of a speech in which discussed “America’s interest in democratic governments that protect the rights of their people” and supported Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s call for judicial reforms in his country.

Note EU-Digest: One can fully support this statement by President Obama.The US must also put their money where their mouth is and tell the Honduran military (which they basically control) to go back to the barracks. On the other side of this equation the conservative Wall street Journal wrote: "The military performed a law enforcement action demanded by the country's constitution, called for by the democratically elected parliament and blessed by the highest court in the land. No general took control. The military went back to being the military." It seems the Wall Street Journal does not seem to be aware or wanted to be aware that the military barricaded the airport when the elected President and a UN representative wanted to land in Honduras. Is the Wall Street Journal now supporting military takeovers as part of their editorial policy?

Labels: Barack Obama, Democracy, Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, Russia, US

President Barack Obama’s nuclear-free vision began as a student - by Catherine Philp

President Obama’s trip to Moscow to hammer out nuclear arms reductions is the first concrete step towards the fulfilment of a long and passionately held vision: a nuclear-free world. In a student magazine article written 26 years ago, at the height of the Cold War, the Columbia postgraduate weighed up how the United States and Russia might “dial down the danger humanity faces” in pursuit of total nuclear disarmament. Mr Obama is the first US President to begin setting out a step-by-step agenda for eliminating nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth.

His stance has brought him as much condemnation as approval, with opponents denouncing him as naive and dangerous in a world where more and more rogue nations are joining the nuclear race. But few people are aware of how far back his mulling of the issue goes, or how passionately it was held.

Labels: Barack Obama, Nuclear proliferation, Russia, US

Brazil, Russia, India and China are unlikely economic bedfellows - by Jonathan Manthorpe

A beaming Russian president Dmitry Medvedev played host to not one but two summits of leaders from the countries that some analysts contend are poised to command the international stage if and when the 200-year-old North Atlantic ascendancy splutters to an end. Ekaterinburg, it seems, was the place to be for a glimpse of the future as leaders gathered for the meetings of the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and then for the first summit of an economic organization that doesn't really exist and which is the product of the imagination and napkin jottings of Goldman Sachs economist, Jim O'Neill, who in 2001 proposed that by 2050 the current world economic leaders of the G-8 industrialized nations will be overtaken by Brazil, Russia, India and China, now known as the BRIC.While the air hung heavy with pledges of cooperation, it's hard to escape the view that China and Russia in particular are treading divergent paths. China's global influence, investment and responsibilities are growing, at least for the moment, while Russia's are declining. Moscow seems content to peg the country's mood-swings to the value of revenues from its energy exports; one day up, the next day down. No surprise then that the impetus to try to make O'Neill's speculative graphs into a real thing came from Russia. If you can't be a major force in other people's country clubs, form one of your own.

The lack of cohesion or unity of purpose in their economies and political structures is evident in the communique that came out of last week's summit. New depth of meaning was brought to the word "vague" as the final document talked about the need to "advance the reform of international financial institutions." What they seemed to be saying was that change is needed in the deal that has survived since the Second World War by which the World Bank is run by an American appointee and the International Monetary Fund is run by a European.

Labels: BRIC, Economic Summit, Russia

Russia's Medvedev takes action against pedophiles

ussia's President has introduced to parliament a new bill, taking the responsibility for sex crimes against children in Russia to new heights, Itar Tass said Monday. According to Dmitry Medvedev's initiative, rape of a minor should be penalized with eight to fifteen years' imprisonment. At present the prison term for rape of a child ranges between four and ten years. The bill indicates the equality of homosexual and heterosexual rape, and states that offenders of both genders should be punished with equal severity. Medvedev also proposes to reduce the possibility of early parole for pedophiles, a measure he has often made a point of in public speeches. According to the bill he has proposed, a criminal sentenced for sexual offense of a minor can only be released early after serving at least 75 percent of the term. Currently, there are no limits on early parole for child offenders.

Note EU-Digest: Russia is to be complimented for taking action on this issue. Hopefully other European nations who have not yet taken similar action in combating sex crime against children should follow suit.

Labels: pedophilia, Russia

Russia said to probe Microsoft over XP halt

Microsoft is reportedly facing another antitrust inquiry, this time from the Russians. According to a Reuters report Thursday, regulators there argue that Microsoft is violating Russian antitrust law by limiting supplies of Windows XP while demand exists and forcing people to buy Windows Vista. Microsoft has largely stopped selling Windows XP for use on new computers, although it is still allowed in some emerging markets as well as for very low-cost machines, such as Netbooks. In April, Russia said it was looking into whether Microsoft deserved closer scrutiny under its antitrust laws.

Labels: Microsoft, Russia

Germany Set to Deepen Ties to Russia With Opel Sale - by Leon Mangasarian

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government picked on May 30 a partnership led by Magna International Inc., a Canadian auto- parts supplier, with Russia’s biggest bank, OAO Sberbank, and Russian carmaker OAO GAZ as the sole bidder for Opel, the European division of GM, the U.S. automaker that will file for bankruptcy today. “This will fuel suspicion in east Europe over Germany and Russia and why the biggest economy in Europe has tied up with strange Russian tycoons to please the Kremlin,” said Fredrik Erixon, director of the Brussels-based European Centre for International Political Economy. “Germany is playing off the Poles and the Baltic states against Russia.” Germany is Russia’s biggest trade partner, a relationship underpinned by rising German gas and oil imports. Annual German trade with Russia increased five-fold to 68.2 billion euros ($96.2 billion) last year since 2000. With 6,000 German companies operating in Russia, business leaders in Berlin view the global recession as a speed-bump, with manufacturers set to win contracts as Russia diversifies from energy and rebuilds transport and health care.

Labels: EU, Germany, Opel, Russia

Air Transportation: AirBus Clobbers Russia Again on Indian tanker sale

The Indian Air Force decided to buy six Airbus A330 MRTT (Multi-Role Tanker Transport) rather than six Russian IL-78 aerial tankers. India has already been using six IL-78s since 2003, but felt the MRTT was a better value. India has been souring on Russian military equipment for the last decade, and this is another example. Poor reliability and maintenance support, as well as unpredictable pricing, has led India to depend increasingly on the West for military gear.

Labels: Airbus, Aircraft Industry, EU, India, Russia

EU-Russia summit ends with prickly exchange over energy - by Andrew Rettman

Originally billed as an uneventful meeting on technical issues such as trade tariffs, the EU-Russia summit in the Far East on Friday (22 May) ended in open disagreement over foreign policy and energy security. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that the EU's new Eastern Partnership project to improve relations with six former-Soviet states risks inflaming political tensions. "I'll put it succinctly. We tried to convince ourselves [that the EU project is harmless] but in the end we couldn't," he said, newswires report. "What worries us is that in some countries attempts are being made to exploit this structure as a partnership against Russia."

The Russophile President Vaclav Klaus stayed on message at the summit, repeating the EU lines that Russia is a "strategic partner" and that the Eastern Partnership "is not aimed against anybody." But comments he made in Czech daily Lidove Noviny before the Khabarovsk meeting have caused anger inside the EU. "I don't see Russia as a threat but as a big, strong and ambitious country to which we must certainly pay more attention than to the likes of Estonia and Lithuania," the paper quoted him as saying.

Note EU-Digest: President Vaclav Klaus is certainly on target here. The EU must consider Russia's demands certainly more serious than the more emotional and the politically motivated demands by some of the former Soviet countries which have become EU member states.

Labels: EU, Russia

Russia cuts off pork and hog exports from NS Canada - by Jim Romahn

Government officials in Nova Scotia Canada have confirmed that Russia has cut off pork and hog exports from Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia. Swine flu is the reason that has been given. The H1N1 virus that began in Mexico has spread around the world, and in Canada passed from a worker who visited Mexico to a herd of about 2,200 pigs in Alberta. That herd is under quarantine, even though the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has said it’s a mild form of the virus that is relatively common in pigs. They usually have the sniffles for a week to 10 days and fully recover.

Canada and World Health Organization officials say the virus in pigs poses no health risk to pork consumers. Russia is one of a number of countries, albeit none of them in North America or Europe, who have banned exports of Canadian hogs and pork since the first cases of H1N1 arose in Canada at the end of April.

Labels: Canada, Russia, Swine Flu

Eurovision Song Contest - Camp and Controversy in Moscow: The Eurovision Extravaganza Heats Up

Moscow promised to host the most lavish Eurovision Song Contest ever. But as the weekend approaches, controversy may be brewing. What, one wonders, could be a greater honor than playing host to a collection of outrageously campy music acts from across Europe, all gathered for a frenzy of televised flamboyance that seems to get more frivolous by the year? Moscow, for its part, has taken the responsibility seriously and has pledged the most lavish show ever when the grand finale of the Eurovision Song Contest hits the stage there this weekend. They have spent €30 million and have booked Olimpiyski Indoor Arena in downtown Moscow for the show. Still, controversy threatens to torpedo the hosts' best efforts. The narrowing of the field is already well underway.

A number of acts were sent home on Tuesday, with Belarus, Bulgaria and Belgium all getting the boot, along with a handful of others. Fifteen of the 25 finalists have now been chosen, with pop perennials Sweden making the cut along with Iceland, Israel, Romania, Armenia and Malta, among others. Turkey emerged as the favorite among 10 countries moving on to Saturday's final. Turkish pop singer Hadise, who grew up in Belgium, sang "Düm Tek Tek" in English and performed with belly dancers. Five countries -- defending champion Russia, France, Britain, Spain and Germany, whose act includes stripper sine qua non Dita von Teese -- qualify automatically. It is their money that makes the event happen. The annual competition is one of the most-watched television events in Europe, with nearly 300 million viewers around the world. In its 53-year history, the colorful contest has even helped launch careers -- like those of international pop acts Abba and Celine Dion.

One can expect an exiting and colorful evening with great songs, lots of spectacular choreography and drama as usual.

Labels: Abba, Celine Dion, Eurovision Song festival, Moscow, Russia

Deal to boost key EU gas project - by Oana Lungescu

The EU has signed an energy agreement with several countries aimed at developing a "southern corridor" for gas supplies bypassing Russia. The agreement was signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Egypt at a summit in Prague. It commits them to speeding up the construction of a long-delayed pipeline to bring Caspian gas to Central Europe. Key to this meeting was a commitment by Turkey's President Abdullah Gul to sign up to an agreement on the construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline by next month. In a symbolic gesture, the agreement is to be signed in Turkey, after years of haggling over transit rules.

Labels: EU, Gas Supplies, Russia

Mikhael Saskashveli with body guards

For the complete report from BBC NEWS click on this link

Anti-government clash in Georgia

Anti-government protesters and police have clashed in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, over the alleged beating of a local journalist. Riot police used batons to force back some protesters who tried to enter a police compound by climbing over a fence, the interior ministry said. These were the first clashes between protesters and police since anti-government demonstrations began on 9 April. Although attendance at daily rallies has dwindled, tension in the city has risen, said the BBC's Tom Esslemont in Tbilisi.

The clash came a day after Georgian authorities said they had thwarted an army mutiny.

Labels: EU, Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvali, Russia

Georgia-The Unstable NATO Ally Seeing Red: As it blames Russia for 'mutiny' - by Fred Weir

It looked like a recipe for political crisis even before a Georgian tank battalion apparently mutinied on Tuesday: • Nearly a month of rolling street demonstrations have virtually shut down the central area of the capital, with thousands of protesters daily demanding the resignation of Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili. • Russian troops have been massing in the past week barely an hour's drive away in South Ossetia. • NATO-sponsored war games that Moscow furiously opposes are set to begin on Wednesday.Georgi Khutsishvili, chair of the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation in Tbilisi, says there are no "pro-Russian" forces, either among the opposition in Tbilisi's streets or within the Georgian army. "Our authorities are always seeing Moscow's hand in things," he says. "But I cannot imagine that any Georgian army battalion could revolt on Russian orders. I completely exclude this. Whatever happened, it must be explained by internal factors." Experts say the Kremlin appears increasingly concerned over the damage to Russia's fragile dialogue with NATO, begun with high hopes barely a month ago. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week called on the Western alliance to cancel the "shortsighted" war games, and ordered Russian officials not to attend a NATO council meeting slated for Thursday.

Note EU-Digest: It is high time the EU distance itself from this very precarious situation in Georgia, mainly created by the unstable leadership of Mikhail Saakashvili

Labels: EU, EU Russia, Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvali, Nato, Russia

Turkey hopes to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia

"Turkey has expressed a strong interest in buying S-400 air defense systems from Russia," said Anatoly Aksenov, a senior adviser to the general director of Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport. Russia is exhibiting over 120 types of weaponry at the IDEF 2009 arms show in Istanbul on April 27-30. The biennial exhibition has been organized by the Turkish defense industry since 1993. Aksenov, who leads the Russian delegation at the IDEF 2009 exhibition, said the possible deliveries of the S-400 to Turkey were discussed during talks with Turkey's undersecretary for defense industries, Murad Bayar.

The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) is designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles), twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and 2 1/2 times that of Russia's S-300PMU-2. The system is also believed to be able to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and is effective at ranges up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and speeds up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second.

Labels: Russia, Turkey

Eurovision 2009 participants arrive in Moscow

The Russian capital will be hosting the international song contest for the first time, but its organisers do not worry and say that everything is going as planned, and although there are eight more days before the opening, the contenders have every minute of their time already scheduled. The contest organizers said the first rehearsals would begin at 10:00 on May 3. Every contender will have 40 minutes to be followed by a press conference. The participants will move around the city in big buses marked with Eurovision logos. They will run every hour from the hotels where the contenders will live to the Olympiisky Concert Hall where the concerts, semi-finals on May 12 and 14, and the final contest on May 16 will be held. Special lanes will be reserved for the Eurovision buses with the picture of a firebird, the official mascot of the Moscow contest, in order to avoid traffic jams.

Meanwhile, all construction work has been completed at the Olympiisky Concert Hall. A unique stage provided with the most up-to-date equipment was installed on May 1. Contest chief director Andrei Boltenko said new super light and high-quality screens were used on the stage. A total of 2.5 kilometres of light-emitting diodes were used.

Labels: EU, Eurovision Song festival, Moscow, Russia

The New Kremlin Dreamers - by Michael Bohm

Several weeks ago in Voronezh, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said the ambitious goals for "Strategy 2020" remain in place despite the economic crisis. He also said Russia has every chance of becoming the world's most desirable place to live by 2020. "This is no fairy tale," Shuvalov added, but if you examine the strategy closely, it certainly looks like one.

The most important ranking is not mentioned in Strategy 2020 at all -- the Transparency International's corruption index, in which Russia ranks 147 out of 180 countries in 2008. Corruption is particularly onerous for Russia's struggling small and medium-size businesses, which make up only 10 percent to 15 percent of the country's GDP. In the United States, small and medium-size businesses are the engine of economic growth, comprising roughly 50 percent of the country's private GDP and creating about two-thirds of net new jobs annually.

As long as Russian bureaucrats (and competitors) are free to terrorize businesses by creating "administrative barriers," extorting bribes and raiding, economic growth in the real sector will always be insignificant. To his credit, President Dmitry Medvedev is backing a new law to assist small businesses, which will, among other things, limit the number of government inspections of businesses. Most likely, however, these limitations will be easily sidestepped when bureaucrats simply extort a larger amount of money per inspection.

Labels: Dmitry Medvedev, Economy, Russia

Russia's 5th generation fighter aircraft RAFKA

"Russia's fifth-generation fighter, known as the PAKFA (Advanced Tactical Aviation Aircraft), has emerged as a key tool of the Russian aerospace and defense industry even before the aircraft has completed its first flight. Rosoboronexport has aggressively pitched component production partnerships to a number of Russia's largest arms markets in order to garner risk/cost-sharing agreements and insure continued Russian market access. However, with the PAKFA program under increasing tension and the West's major aerospace firms seeking to shore up additional orders for soon to be closed fourth-generation aircraft production lines, Russia faces the prospect of declining presence in the world's most high sought after arms markets."

Labels: Aircraft Industry, Airforce, Russia

Russian banker warns lenders' troubles to grow - by Catrina Steward

Russia's banking crisis has only just started, a leading financier warned Wednesday, as lenders could face a fresh wave of defaults on loans and weak economic activity. "The crisis is just beginning for the banking industry," German Gref, chief executive of state-backed Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, told a conference. "The crisis will spill over from the real sector of the economy."

Eight months on from Russia's stock market collapse and a liquidity crisis in the financial sector, the rapid rise in bad loans threatens to stall the recovery of the banking sector and the real economy. Some domestic banks are only starting to acknowledge the problem as companies miss payments, face bankruptcy or cede shares to banks put up as collateral.

Labels: Banking Industry, Economy, Russia

Russia to unveil spaceship plans - by Anatoly Zak

The Russian space agency is expected to unveil development plans for a next-generation manned spacecraft tomorrow,April 6.The proposed new spacecraft should enter into service sometime towards the end of the next decade. It will replace the venerable three-seat Soyuz capsule, which has carried Russian cosmonauts into orbit for more than four decades. The Earth-orbiting version of the ship would have a mass of 12 tonnes, carry a crew of six, along with no less than 500kg of cargo; while its "lunar cousin" would weigh 16.5 tonnes, have four seats and be capable of delivering and bringing back 100kg of cargo.In recent years, Russia and Europe did look at the possibility of developing the next-generation vehicle together, but the two parties could not agree on the work share. Europe will now separately pursue the possibility of upgrading its robotic ATV space freighter to a manned ship, but still using some Russian technology.

Labels: EU, Russia, Space Exploration

Daylight Saving Time starts today in Europe

This weekend, the second of three time-changes for Spring 2009 will occur. Europe including the European Union and Turkey will go onto DST early Sunday morning. Other Daylight Saving Time changes occurring this weekend: Russia, and Western Australia will return to Southern Hemisphere Standard Time. The last time-change for Spring 2009 will occur one week from today, on Sunday, April 5 when New Zealand and South-Eastern Australia return to Southern Hemisphere Standard Time, and Mexico goes onto Daylight Saving Time.

Labels: Daylight Saving Time, EU, Europe, Russia, Turkey

Ariane-5 Europe's successful heavy lifter space craft poised for take off at the ESA Kourou space center in Guiana (North East Coast of South America)

For the complete report from BBC NEWS click on this link

European Space Agency has launched its Goce gravity mapping satellite - and leads new space exploration wave - by Jonathan Amos

Goce left Earth at 1421 GMT on a modified intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in north-west Russia. The mission will give scientists new insights into how the interior of the planet is structured and provide key information on how the oceans move. The satellite is part of an armada of European spacecraft being sent up to study the planet.

Also being ordered is the Sentinel series of spacecraft which will be part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) project, a joint undertaking with the EU. GMES will pull together all the information obtained by environmental satellites, air and ground stations to provide a comprehensive picture of the planet. Its quest is to generate continuous, cross-calibrated, long-term data-sets that can be used to inform European policies to deal with global change. The Sentinels are needed to fill in data gaps. In addition, Europe is in the process of upgrading its weather platforms, building a third generation of its Meteosat series, and introducing a new class of polar orbiting satellites known as Metop. This huge fleet of Earth-pointing spacecraft will return an avalanche of data on the health of the planet.

Labels: Earth, ESA, EU, Pollution and the environment, Russia, Space Exploration

Managing Missile Defense's Demise - by Jan Jires

The U.S. missile defense project has always been a divisive issue both at home and abroad. Domestic critics of the project, which the Bush administration vigorously promoted, have questioned the technical feasibility of the proposed system as well as its cost-effectiveness. Of course, it is still possible that the "secret letter scoop" is a part of some clever scheme developed by the administration to push the Russians into a corner by demonstrating that they are unwilling to cooperate (or unable to deliver) on Iran - even when the USA is ready to make substantial concessions. Perhaps the Central European allies were informed in advance about the plan and assured they were not going to be thrown overboard. If this is the case, hats off to the administration.

Note EU-Digest: If the letter was written it certainly shows savy on the part of the Obama Administration.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia, US

NATO seen backing Russia ties to form broad front - by David Brunnstrom

NATO is expected on today to back a resumption of formal ties with Russia as Washington and its allies seek a broad front in their troubled battle against Afghan militants and other threats. The Bush administration led NATO's suspension of formal dialogue with Russia after Moscow's incursion into Georgia last August, but President Barack Obama's White House team has made clear it wants to open a new page in relations with the Kremlin.

Note EU-Digest: At least one step in the right direction.

Labels: EU, Hillary Clinton, Nato, Russia, US

Clinton maps out priorities with European ministers - by Valentina Pop

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton met her European counterparts in Brussels last night for a "transatlantic dinner" ahead of the Nato ministerial meeting on Thursday set to focus on Afghanistan, Eastern Europe and Russia. "She will convey on behalf of the Obama administration our commitment to revitalising Nato, listening to our allies and consulting, hearing their views and building strategies together," Kurt Volker, the US permanent representative to Nato told EUobserver. On Friday, Ms Clinton is due to meet her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva for their first bilateral meeting since the Obama administration took office.

Before traveling to Geneva, Ms Clinton will meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, as well as the Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, on behalf of the EU presidency. She is also scheduled to participate in a public debate with European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering on Friday.

Labels: EU, Hillary Clinton, Nato, Russia, US

Labels: Missile Crises, Russia, US

Turkish president to make state visit to Russia Feb 12-15

Turkish President Abdullah Gul will make a state visit to Russia on February 12-15 at the invitation of President Dmitry Medvedev, the presidential press service on Wednesday. The talks between Medvedev and Gul are scheduled for Friday, February 13. The agenda is quite big and includes a wide range of bilateral and international issues (including energy), the Kremlin said. The presidents of Russia and Turkey met for the first time in July 2008 in Astana during celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the Kazakhstani capital. They discussed ways to increase bilateral trade turnover, implement major infrastructure projects and boost cooperation in the field of tourism in the Black Sea area. Gul plans to visit Kazan and meet with Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiyev. Note EU-Digest: Russia became Turkey's largest trading partner, with a total trade volume of about $38 billion in 2008.

Labels: EU, Russia, Turkey

Clinton Says US Could 'Reconsider' European Missile Defense Plan

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Obama administration might reconsider plans for a missile defense system in Europe, if Iran stopped what U.S. officials believe is a drive for nuclear weapons. Clinton met with Czech Republic Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose government - along with Poland - has agreed to host the system. The Obama administration has stopped short of fully embracing the missile defense program that was avidly pursued by the Bush White House, with the Obama team citing concerns about its technical viability. In her joint press appearance with her Czech Republic counterpart, Secretary Clinton reiterated those concerns, while also suggesting the program could be shelved if Iran halts its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

She said the decisions on timing and deployment of the system are "largely technical matters" and said Iranian behavior would be a key factor in whether the program ultimately goes forward.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Russia, US

Russia's Inflation Rate Up to 13.4% Annually

Russia's inflation rate rose in January for the first time in five months as the weakening ruble pushed up the cost of imports and planned tariff increases raised utility costs, the State Statistics Service said Thursday. The annual rate rose to 13.4 percent from 13.3 percent. Consumer prices rose 2.4 percent from December, when they advanced a monthly 0.7 percent. Food prices gained 15.9 percent in the year through January, while the cost of services such as electricity and heat rose 16.9 percent. A number of retail chains said at a news conference Thursday that food prices would rise 25 percent to 45 percent by the end of the year.

Russia was forced to abandon its defense of the ruble after the price of oil, the government's biggest export earner, tumbled more than two-thirds in less than six months. The ruble lost 35 percent against the dollar, the second-worst performing emerging-market currency behind the Polish zloty. Russia also allowed utilities to raise rates last month.

Labels: Economy, EU, Inflation, Poland, Russia

US sends Kissinger to broker nuclear deal with Russia - by Adrian Blomfield

Henry Kissinger, the pioneer of Cold War detente during the Nixon era, has made a return to front-line politics after US President Barack Obama reportedly sent him to Moscow to win support from Vladimir Putin's government for a nuclear disarmament initiative. It is believed that the 85-year-old former US secretary of state met President Dmitry Medvedev for secret negotiations in December. According to Western diplomats, during two days of talks Mr Kissinger courted Russian officials in an attempt to win support for Mr Obama's initiative, which could see Russia and the US each cutting their nuclear arsenals to 1,000 warheads.

Labels: Nuclear weapons, Russia, US

Russia- Passengers stop flight after 'drunk' pilot sparks panic - by Tony Halpin

"It is normally a moment of cheery reassurance when an airline pilot greets passengers during preparations for take-off. But Alexander Cheplevsky sparked panic on flight Aeroflot 315 when he began to speak. His slurred and garbled comments ahead of a flight from Moscow to New York convinced passengers that he was drunk. When he apparently switched from Russian into unintelligible English, fear turned to revolt. Flight attendants initially ignored passengers' complaints and threatened to expel them from the Boeing 767 jet unless they stopped "making trouble". As the rebellion spread, Aeroflot representatives boarded the aircraft to try to calm down the 300 passengers. One sought to reassure them by announcing that it was "not such a big deal" if the pilot was drunk because the aircraft practically flew itself."

Labels: Aeroflot, Russia

Venezuela set to order Russian aircraft- by Jackson Flores Jr.

The Venezuelan government is expected this month to order two Ilyushin Il-96-300 airliners to be used for commercial airline and government VIP transport. The widebodies - each valued at around $98 million according to local government sources - are scheduled for delivery in the first and fourth quarter of next year. Sources in Venezuela indicate that one of the airframes will be fitted out as a presidential transport aircraft in a configuration similar to that used by the Russian government. The second aircraft is expected to join state-owned airline Conviasa's fleet to fly on its long-haul routes.

Labels: Aircraft Industry, Russia, Venezuela

Caspian Basin: Russia and Turkey Raise Obstacles for US Energy Policy

To no one’s surprise, a former US special envoy for Caspian energy issues labeled Russia as the biggest headache for American policy in the region. But the former diplomatic troubleshooter, C. Boyden Gray, also said Turkey, a NATO ally, has emerged as a wild card in the Caspian energy game. Gray spoke at an event January 26 sponsored by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute in Washington, DC, titled Caspian Energy, the United States, the European Union, and Russia. During his tenure with the Bush Administration, Gray kept a low profile and made few public appearances or statements. But he did not appear to hold much back during his recent Washington appearance.

Gray’s tenure ended with that of the Bush administration on January 20, and he said he’s not sure if President Obama will appoint a replacement for him.

Labels: Caspian Basin, EU, Russia, Turkey

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer out - A contest to lead NATO - Who can unite the allies? -

NATO’s hot war, in Afghanistan, is going badly and the alliance is at odds over further expansion. Relations with its neighbor in Brussels, the European Union, are paralyzed even though many countries are members of both. Poland’s foreign (and ex-defense) minister, Radek Sikorski, is an early front-runner. Another eastern possibility is Solomon Passy, the Trabant-driving former foreign minister of Bulgaria. Many allies want a secretary-general with political clout, “somebody whose phone calls will be answered when he calls European leaders”, as a NATO insider puts it. Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s has this clout. As Danish prime minister since 2001, he sent his country’s troops to serve alongside American ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Mr Fogh Rasmussen is thought to be more interested in becoming the EU’s first permanent president, if that position ever materializes.Two Canadian possibilities are Peter MacKay and John Manley, defense and former foreign ministers respectively. One contender is Britain’s soft-spoken former defense secretary, Des Browne. But Britain is detested by jihadists even more than Denmark.A French candidate might seal that country’s re-entry into NATO’s military structure, which will be confirmed at the April summit. Some NATO insiders think the best way to stop Berlin from becoming the new Paris might be to appoint a senior German with solid pro-American credentials to NATO’s top job—in effect, not Germany’s man at NATO, but NATO’s man for Germany?

Note EU-Digest Among all the soul searching that is being done about NATO maybe some serious thought should also be given to replace the NATO structure by a European Defense Alliance which includes Russia as a full member? Providing more of a focus on European strategic interests but nevertheless in close cooperation with the US military establishment.

Labels: EU, Europe, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato, Russia, The Netherlands, US

Russia Asks Obama for Change

The Russian Foreign Ministry is calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to end Washington's "anti-Russian" policy of granting swift NATO membership to Ukraine and Georgia. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the policy of former President George W. Bush had destabilized Ukraine and helped spark last summer's war in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia. "I would like to hope that the new people in the White House will learn from the mistakes of their predecessors," Ryabkov said in an interview published by his ministry this week.

European states led by Germany and France blocked a U.S. drive at a NATO summit last year to grant Ukraine and Georgia a road map to membership. Officials said neither country was ready and that membership would unnecessarily provoke Moscow, which considers the former Soviet republics to be part of its zone of influence. "We are not against bilateral relations between the United States and ... Ukraine and Georgia," Ryabkov said. "But at the same time we do not intend to close our eyes to a situation in which the vector of such ties begins to negatively influence Russian interests in the area of national security. ... This relates in full to the essentially anti-Russian advancement of the policy of speedy NATO accession for Kiev and Tbilisi."

Labels: Barack Obama, Russia

Russia offers Afghan defence help

Russia has said it is ready to help Afghanistan's defence sector by supplying equipment to the nation's armed forces.A statement from Mr Medvedev said Russia was "ready to provide broad assistance for an independent and democratic country that lives in a peaceful atmosphere with its neighbors". He added: "Co-operation in the defence sector... will be effective for establishing peace in the region." The Afghan presidency said Russia was also prepared to provide any other assistance that would help bring peace.

There have been complaints in Afghanistan that despite the huge Western presence its armed forces have not been properly equipped. The US has pledged to send up to 30,000 new troops to Afghanistan in 2009, adding to the 32,000 troops already there.

Labels: Afghanistan, Russia

Demonizing Russia isn’t productive - by Vincent Lauerman

For the sake of our own interests, the West should avoid blindly supporting countries such as Georgia and Ukraine in their disputes with Russia. Doing so merely pushes Russia deeper into an authoritarian bloc - a threat to European Union energy security and a geopolitical and economic catastrophe as well. The major powers need to work together to counter the economic fallout from the global financial crisis, not break into competing political and economic blocs as in the past (for example, during the Great Depression).According to a Nov. 7 article in The New York Times, accounts by independent military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe at the beginning of the war call into question President Saakashvili's description of events. Most important, the monitors were unable to substantiate his claim that ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia were under heavy bombardment prior to Georgia moving its troops back into the region. In contrast, the monitors indicated that Georgia's "indiscriminate" bombardment of Tskhinvali put civilians, unarmed monitors and Russian peace keepers in harms way.

Note EU-Digest: A strategic partnership between Russia and the EU is not only essential for both countries but also practical as a first step to potential Russian membership in the EU. Russia is a European country and must be recognized as such.

Labels: cooperation, EU, Russia

Gas Transport to Europe to Resume After Deal

Natural gas may soon start to flow from Russia to Europe: the prime ministers of Russia and the Ukraine have agreed to a deal after a marathon series of talks. The deal was reached between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko. Ukraine would be offered a 20% discount on the market price for Russian natural gas deliveries this year, if it agrees to keep transit fees for pumping gas to Europe via its pipelines at the 2008 level.

Then from 2010 on, the two neighboring countries will switch to European market prices.

Labels: EU, Gas Supplies, Russia, Ukraine

Russian gas, Mideast crisis bare EU divisions - no EU cohesion

Who listens to the EU these days? Not Russia and Ukraine, who ignore Europe's pleas to resume gas deliveries to Western Europe. Nor Israel, whose relentless assault on the Gaza strip continues amid EU demands for moderation.

The reason for the shrug off may lie in the challenges Europe faces in speaking with one voice. Conflicting national interests have long been an obstacle to the bloc cobbling together a coordinated response, a problem at once exacerbated and exemplified by Europe's failure to adopt a charter that would give it a president and foreign minister with real executive powers.

Labels: EU, European Unity, Russia

Russia to restart gas pumps to Europe on Tuesday - by Maria Danilova

Russia's state gas monopoly has promised to resume shipping Europe-bound gas through Ukraine on Tuesday morning, nearly a week after it shut off the taps and forced countless Europeans to huddle cold and resentful in freezing homes. However, a spokesman for the Gazprom monopoly indicated lingering problems could still prolong the crisis. More than 15 countries have been the inadvertent victims of a complex and acrimonious wrangle between Russia and Ukraine over gas prices, past debts and allegations of theft. They also jockeyed over an EU-brokered deal to send pipeline monitors to ensure that restored gas shipments reach their destination.

Labels: EU, Gas Supplies, Russia