FRANCE: NO EU SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA IMMINENT
By Laurent Pirot

The Associated Press
Aug 29 2008

PARIS (AP) — The European Union is not expected to imposed sanctions
on Russia at a summit next week but may name a special envoy to
Georgia to ensure that a cease-fire there is observed, officials in
Paris and Brussels said Friday.

They also said that the EU might send a high official — perhaps
French President Nicolas Sarkozy — on a shuttle mission to the region.

The 27 European Union leaders are scheduled to hold a special summit
in Brussels on Monday to discuss how to respond to the recent brief
and bitter war between Russia and Georgia, and Russia’s subsequent
recognition of the independence of two breakaway regions of Georgia.

The EU already has an envoy to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. But
under a plan that will be discussed at the summit, that job would be
split up to create the special envoy to Georgia, said an official at
the EU headquarters in Brussels.

The official also said that a visit by Sarkozy to both Moscow and the
Georgian capital, Tbilisi would be discussed. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity because of the rules of the job.

France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, had said the EU was
considering sanctions against Russia following its recognition of
South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But he told reporters Friday that a provisional text for the Brussels
meeting has been drawn up, and that the focus was on unity in the
27-member EU bloc.

"France doesn’t foresee any sanctions," he said.

A high-ranking official in Sarkozy’s office also said sanctions
wouldn’t be imposed at the summit.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office
policy, said the EU is also likely to ask Sarkozy to continue his
"mission" in the crisis, which involved shuttle diplomacy and visits
to both Moscow and Tbilisi earlier this month.

The French official said France’s priority is ensuring that Russia
respects a cease-fire deal that France helped craft.

Moscow’s recognition Tuesday of South Ossetia and Abkhazia followed a
brief war between Georgia and Russia earlier this month. Georgia had
launched a military offensive to retake South Ossetia from separatists,
and Russia responded by sending tanks into the Moscow-friendly province
and Georgia proper.

European countries considerably toughened their stance against Russia
after Moscow’s move to recognize the provinces as independent. Kouchner
said Thursday that France was not behind the effort for sanctions
and that the French role was to unite Europeans in a common position.

A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she believes it
is important for Monday’s summit to send "a clear political signal
of the European Union’s unity" on the crisis.

The EU is united in saying that Georgia’s territorial integrity is
not up for discussion, that the EU will help in rebuilding destroyed
infrastructure and that the recognition of Abkhazian and South Ossetian
independence is unacceptable, Merkel spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said
in Berlin.

Associated Press Writers Robert Wielaard in Brussels and Jamey Keaten
in Paris contributed to this story.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress