European Union-Russia Summit in Disarray

May 18 (EIRNS)--In contrast to the perspectives for international collaboration in economic development laid out this past week in Moscow, by participants at the Russian Academy of Sciences 80th birthday tribute to economist Stanislov Menshikov, discord characterized the discussions in Samara, in southern Russia, May 17 and 18 at the European Union-Russia Summit. The principals at the Summit included European Commission President Manuel Barroso; German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who holds the rotating EU presidency, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although press reports are biased, nevertheless a review of the filings directly from the scene, indicate the general strains and disarray. Few of them may be taken at face value, but rather denote the deeper lack of mutual resolve to deal with the reality of the economic breakdown crisis, and the task of global reconstruction in the context of what Lyndon LaRouche has described as the increasing ungovernability of all the nations in Western and Central Europe.

To begin with, progress towards reaching an EU-Russia partnership treaty this year, to succeed the one that expires at the end of 2007, is being slowed by objections from Poland over Russia refusing meat imports from Poland. EC Commission President Barroso, who met with President Putin, said, "We had occasion to say to our Russian partners that a difficulty for a member state is a difficulty for the whole European Community." Putin held that Russia has made enough concessions to Poland already.

Another area of friction comes from Russian objections to the treatment in Estonia and Latvia, of Russian speaking citizens. President Putin said that violations of the rights of these people "are unacceptable and unworthy of Europe."

Even the atmosphere of the convening of the Summit was soured by claims by former chess champion Garry Kasparov and other Russian opposition figures, that their travel to Samara was deliberately disrupted.