2ND EU presses Putin on Russian energy access, rights By Shada Islam and Leon Mangasarian

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday October 20, 2006

By Shada Islam and Leon Mangasarian, Lahti, Finland- European Union leaders were on Friday pressing Russian President Vladimir Putin to improve access for western energy companies while voicing concern over Moscow's human rights record. Putin was attending a one-day EU summit dominated by crucial energy security issues amid rising doubts over Russia's reliability as a supplier and its use of energy as a diplomatic tool.

Energy-poor Europe depends on Russia for 25 per cent of its natural gas and Moscow is also the bloc's second largest source of crude oil.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel highlighted the EU's dilemma in dealing with its giant neighbour which has grown increasingly assertive as state coffers are filled with massive energy revenues.

"We want good relations with Russia but we have our demands regarding security of contracts and human rights," said Merkel.

Merkel said she would tell Putin the relationship was a two-way street, with European companies seeking access to Russian markets just as Russian firms wanted to invest in Europe.

The chancellor said German and European energy companies which had invested in Russia could not be subject to constantly changing conditions in which nothing was secure.

"We expect to have a reliable framework," said Merkel.

The German leader also vowed to raise the controversial issue of Russian protectionism regarding strategic sectors that Moscow wans to keep out of foreign hands.

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the current EU presidency, said all EU states were united in demanding that Russia adhere to key market economy principles in the energy sector.

Fending off criticism that the EU was being too soft with Putin on human rights, Vanhanen vowed the bloc's concerns would be conveyed to the Russian leader in a "frank and open way."

But the Finnish premier faces a daunting task during the EU's working dinner with Putin which was held in a glittering glass and timber lakeside congress centre.

Despite the show of unity on energy access, the EU is split over how to deal with Russia's problem areas including democracy, human rights and Moscow's freezing of relations with Georgia following the arrest and expulsion of alleged Russian spies from the country.

France and Germany, while critical, are seeking a more conciliatory tone with Russia while EU newcomers such as Poland and the Baltic states - all former parts of the Soviet-dominated east bloc - are demanding a far harsher line.

EU leaders have set out different priorities for dealing with Russia.

Swedish Premier Fredrik Reinfeldt underlined the need for the EU to forge a relationship with Moscow "based on common values."

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said the focus must be on seeking "predictability in Russia," adding that Moscow's recent bullying of Georgia meant "we cannot talk about predictability."

Warning the EU not to sell its soul for oil, European Parliament President Josep Borrell said the bloc would "lose credibility if it traded human rights for energy."

Alarm bells were triggered over Russian reliability as an energy supplier after Moscow cut off gas supplies earlier this year to Ukraine, causing brief energy shortages across Europe.

In addition to doubts over Russia as an energy supplier, Moscow also seems intent on driving out foreign energy giants from the country.

There have been clashes with Royal Dutch Shell over the oil company's alleged contractual environmental breaches in the far-east Sakhalin project.

The decision of Gazprom, Russia's state gas monopoly, to reject foreign partners in the giant Shtokman natural-gas project in the Barents Sea is also seen as a prime example of Moscow exerting total state control over its energy sector.

In tandem with concern at Russia's use of energy as a political tool, the EU is also increasingly armed over Russia's human rights record.

Vanhanen has promised to ask for an independent inquiry into the killing of renowned Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Putin's meeting with EU leaders comes amid intense media coverage over admiring remarks he made concerning Israel's President Moshe Katsav who faces sexual harassment charges.

"He turned out to be a strong man, raped ten women! I never would have expected it of him. He has surprised us all, we all envy him!" the Kommersant newspaper quoted Putin as saying at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Moscow on Wednesday.

Katsav faces possible charges that he sexually harassed several former females employees.

Asked if EU leaders were embarrassed by Putin's remarks, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso ducked the issue, saying only that the bloc needed to have a "constructive relationship" with Russia which would include discussion on sensitive issues.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency