Russia, EU Sign 'Historic' Pact

CORFU, Greece -- The European Union and Russia signed a landmark friendship agreement Friday designed to help stabilize the ex-Soviet Union and bring it closer to its former rivals.Under a brilliant sky and against the backdrop of a Venetian fortress on the Greek island of Corfu, President Boris Yeltsin signed the latest in a web of economic and political accords with the West to help bring stability to Russia's economy. The EU-Russia pact, concluded two days after Moscow agreed to NATO's Partnership for Peace scheme, offers Russian the long-term prospect of a free-trade agreement with the Union. It lifts trade barriers to sale of Russian goods in Europe and encourages Western investment in Russia's flagging economy.Greece, the current EU president and host of the summit, piled on the pomp for the signing ceremony, held on a sun-drenched promontory overlooking a sparkling waterfront."I think it is a truly great step toward the reunion of our continent," Yeltsin said at the ceremony in the Church of St. George, calling the document one of "extreme historical significance." The agreement, he said, "will bring Russia back into economic Europe as an equal partner.""Russian entrepreneurs will no longer have to claw their way through into European markets," Yeltsin said.EU chief executive Jacques Delors said, "Now, Russia can play a full role in our continent."French President Fran?ois Mitterrand said at a lavish EU dinner for Yeltsin on Thursday night that West Europeans must steadily deepen trade and other relations with Moscow. He added, however, that Russian "membership in the European Union can only be considered in the long term, the very long term," Belgian spokeswoman Moniek Delvou told reporters. (Reuters, AP)