RUSSIA DISAPPROVES OF EU EASTERN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM: RUSSIAN MP

ARKA
Feb 6, 2009

YEREVAN, February 6. /ARKA/. Russia disapproves of the EU Eastern
Partnership Program, said Sergei Markov, Russian MP, member of Russia’s
delegation in PACE.

"We consider the Eastern Partnership an attempt to turn post-soviet
states of Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova,
into a near abroad, a kind of a colony," he said during a space
bridge between Yerevan and Moscow on the impact of the integration
of sovereign states into international organizations.

According to Markov, Russia has long established friendly relations
with East European countries that have been linked to each other
since Soviet times.

The Russian MP hailed collaboration and friendly relations with
East European countries, saying the Eastern Partnership Program
aims at strengthening one-way influence of the European Union on
those countries.

The expert underlined that propagating democratic principles in
Estonia and Latvia aroused a Nazi movement and deprive one third of
the population from the right to vote.

"This is why, we consider the Eastern Partnership policy to be an
element of the so-called zero-sum policy, with EU being hostile
towards the Russian influence," he added.

Markov urged Eastern Europe to give up the EU policy and cooperate
both with Russia and Europe.

In his turn, Deputy Director of the Institute of the CIS States
Vladimir Zharikhin said the Eastern Partnership Program implies
cooperation, not social responsibilities boiling down to cheap
manpower.

Approved by 27 EU member-states at the December 2008 summit in
Brussels, the initiators of the Eastern Partnership were Poland
and Sweden. The program aims at bringing together Ukraine, Armenia,
Moldavia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and, possibly, Belarus.

The program’s objective is to boost political cooperation and
integrate ex-soviet states into EU economy, as well as extend financial
assistance to these countries and ensure energy safety in post-soviet
space.