Sweden said Monday that Russia’s WTO accession and fighting the economic crisis would be among its priorities with Moscow during its six months at the helm of the European Union presidency.
Sweden, which took over the rotating EU presidency from the Czech Republic on July 1, wants to see Russia in the World Trade Organization despite its recent decision to drop its membership bid and resubmit it as a joint bid with Belarus and Kazakhstan, Swedish Ambassador Tomas Bertelman said at a news conference, Interfax reported.
Russia’s top trade negotiator, Maxim Medvedkov, reiterated on Monday that talks on the joint accession of the three countries to the WTO could start in the fall, RIA-Novosti reported.
Bertelman also said Sweden hoped to step up cooperation between the EU and Russia in fighting the economic crisis.
The EU will also work on energy security, fighting organized crime and the Eastern Partnership program, which seeks free trade agreements and relaxed visa rules between the 27 EU members and six of Russia’s former Soviet neighbors in exchange for political reforms in those countries, Bertelman said.
Among its other priorities, Sweden will focus on climate change and the ratification by the end of the fall of the Lisbon Treaty, a painstakingly negotiated blueprint for reshaping the EU’s institutions and powers, Bertelman said.
The EU’s envoy to Russia, Marc Franco, said Sweden could reduce the number of Russia-EU summits from two to one a year when the Lisbon Treaty comes into force and the EU presidency ceases to rotate between member states.
The last Russia-EU summit, held in Khabarovsk in May, highlighted the lack of agreement between Russia and the EU on Russia’s gas trade with Ukraine, the Eastern Partnership program and the Energy Charter.
Sweden has proposed “certain dates” for the next summit, which will be held this fall, Bertelman said.
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