RIGA - As the countdown continues to the Baltics' accession to the EU on May 1, the deadline also approaches for the extension of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, the document that regulates relations between the 25-member European bloc and Russia. In recent months the extension of the agreement to cover the bloc's 10 new members had come under doubt as Russia said it wanted a separate appendix to the document for each new member.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov said on April 1that the country planned to extend its partnership accord with the EU to cover the 10 new states on April 27. Chizhov, who is responsible for European affairs, explained that the negotiations - which related mostly to trade - were almost finished.
"By the end of this week we hope to conclude these negotiations," he said at a news conference in Moscow.
Chizhov also claimed that Russia had never named Russian speakers' rights in the Baltics as a precondition for extending the PCA with the European Union to the newcomer states, which many observers accused it of doing.
"We have set no conditions for extending the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to the new EU members. We have spoken of the need to move closer to each other, which finds its expression in a joint statement about taking Russian concerns into consideration," he said.
Chizhov added, however, that issues relating to Russian speakers' rights would move from the country's relations with Latvia and Estonia into the sphere of Russia-EU relations.
"The topic of the situation of the Russian-speaking population of Latvia and Estonia has become an inseparable part of the political dialogue between Russia and the European Union. And it will remain this way until the problems have been solved," the deputy minister said.
Sergei Mironov, chairman of the upper house of Russia's Parliament, said at a press conference that the problems concerning ethnic Russians in the Baltics would not go away.
"Russia does not exist without Europe, the same as Europe does not exist without Russia, therefore EU enlargement cannot not worry us," said Mironov, adding that by enlarging Europe was not only gaining new territories but also new problems, such as violations of human rights in the Baltic states.
Mironov said that the EU must pay attention to these matters, particularly in Latvia, where the human rights of Russian-speaking citizens were being severely violated. He also complained about the fact that Latvians and Estonians stage "luxuriant funerals for former SS soldiers."
"I do not think that these facts will be considered with enthusiasm by EU countries that have suffered from fascism," said Mironov.
Meanwhile, last week Vincent Piket, deputy head of the European Commission's delegation in Moscow, announced that Russia had pledged to broaden the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to cover the acceding countries.
"That extension is not and has not been negotiable for us. We have reached an understanding with the Russian side that it is so," he said. "We cannot have different rules of cooperation for individual states."
Piket said that a joint statement would affirm that an agreement signed between Russia and the incoming EU countries at an earlier time would remain in force. The statement will also list agreements that remove Russia's concerns relating to EU enlargement - including worries that involve tariffs and trade issues. Other issues, such as the trade in nuclear fuel, will be addressed after the changes on May 1, said Piket.
The EU official added that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov was expected to attend the official signing of the extension of the agreement, which should take place in Luxembourg on April 27. Piket said that the signing of the documents would take place within the framework of the permanent cooperation council and that they would have to be ratified by both sides.
"This is of course going to take time. In view of this, we're agreeing that the documents will be effective even before being signed," Piket said.
