Russia-EU Summit

On November 18, Stockholm will host the 24th Russia-EU summit. Russia will be represented by President Dmitry Medvedev and the EU by President of the European Council, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
The two priority issues during the Swedish Presidency – climate change and the economic and financial crisis – will be discussed, as will energy issues, foreign affairs, trade policy and human rights

On the eve of the Summit, President José Manuel Barroso noted: “There are many issues on the global agenda today that neither EU nor Russia can address alone – such as climate change, and the financial and economic crisis. So, we have a joint responsibility to coordinate our efforts to revive the global economy, implement the decisions of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh and finally to achieve an ambitious and comprehensive global deal at the Copenhagen Conference in December.”

venues:

Most of the controversy surrounding this summit seems to be around the venue: Russia tried to have the summit moved to Brussels because Sweden has been very critical of Russia’s role in the 2008 Georgia War. To add further fuel, Sweden wants to raise the assassination of human rights campaigners in Russia at the summit.

ECFR’s experts believe the prospect of another gas cut-off this winter could cause further friction. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin repeated threats last week that he will reduce Ukraine’s gas supplies if it fails to pay on time.

The Russian side remains seriously concerned about the unresolved problems of the Russian-speaking minority in the Baltic states, and about the trends of the politicization of history that are cultivated in a number of EU member countries.

The Summit will address international foreign policy issues like Afghanistan/Pakistan, non-proliferation, Iran, the Corfu Process and frozen conflicts in the Common Neighborhood as well as bilateral issues including the state of play in the negotiations on a New Agreement between the EU and Russia.

This is not the last meeting and a number of meetings will be held in future