Russia Shrugs at Polish EU Veto, but Warsaw Holds Firm Over Meat Ban

A senior Kremlin diplomat said Tuesday that Russia would not be troubled if Poland's veto of new EU-Russia cooperation talks remained in place. Sergei Yastrzhembsky, Moscow's special envoy to the EU, said Russia's interest in the negotiations matched the EU's exactly, and no more, signaling that Moscow would not press for a deal if Brussels did not.

Poland became the lone EU member to block the start of discussions on a new Cooperation and Partnership Agreement, which would govern a broad range of issues including energy trade, visa rules, and human trafficking. All 25 member states must approve before talks can begin, and Warsaw showed no sign of relenting.

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski argued that Russia had already violated existing EU-Russia trade commitments by maintaining an import ban on Polish meat and plant products in place since the previous year. He warned that agreeing to a new pact while the ban stood would effectively leave Poland outside its protections.

Warsaw also objected to Russia's refusal to ratify an international energy charter. Yastrzhembsky said the current partnership agreement would be extended automatically if no new talks began, and cautioned that settling bilateral disputes through the EU was unacceptable to Moscow.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.