EU TONES DOWN COMMITMENT TO EASTERN EUROPE
By Bruno Waterfield in Strasbourg

Daily Telegraph
07 May 2009
UK

The European Union has watered down a pact with Eastern European
countries including Georgia and Ukraine because of fears of a domestic
backlash against migration.

Internal divisions within Europe worked to Russia’s advantage ahead
of the EU "Eastern Partnership" summit with Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova,
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Political fears in key European governments, led by Berlin, has
undermined the initiative to forge a new pact with former Soviet
states and to counter a newly assertive Russia.

The term "European countries", to refer to the six former Soviet
countries, was dropped from draft texts to avoid any hint that it
would imply future EU membership and migration rights, an issue which
is controversial in many European countries.

Instead the six are described as "Eastern European Partners" and
"partner countries", a development that will deeply disappoint Ukraine
and strengthen Russia’s attempts to build a "sphere of influence"
in the region.

EU ambassadors have also watered down commitments to "visa
liberalisation", allowing people from the region greater work and
business access to European countries.

The question, regarded as a vital benefit cementing the region to
the West, has been delayed to become a "long-term goal", a major
climb down from an original text that promised progress towards
"visa-free" travel.

Ahead of German elections this September, the issue of migrant workers
is seen as too politically sensitive in Berlin, eroding EU unity and
allowing Russia exploit divisions.

Ukraine is becoming the main location of a battle between Russian
and the EU over the country’s future as an Eastern or Western facing
country.

A letter written by the Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Radoslaw Sikorski,
the German and Polish foreign ministers, last week warned of
"destabilising effects" for the EU of Ukraine’s relations with Russia.

"Negative developments in Ukraine could have wide ranging
consequences," they wrote.

Following the Georgian war last year, Ukraine has complained that
Russia is systematically issuing Russian passports to Ukrainian
citizens living in Crimea.

EU visa liberalisation, allowing more Ukrainians, including people
from the Crimea, to work in Europe is seen as vital for winning
influence from Russia.

The Georgia war last August, where Russia used military force to
recognise breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, has raised
the spectre of a similar conflict in Ukraine.

Almost 60 per cent of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula is ethnically
Russian and some groups have called for the territory to split from
Ukraine to a closer alliance with Russia.

A document recently circulated by German diplomats in the EU warns that
the Crimea issue could lead to "a serious deterioration of relations"
between Russia and Ukraine.

Berlin has suggested "raising the issue of Crimea with Ukraine in
a more systematic way" with the goal of "strengthening ‘European’
identity in Crimea, fostering ties with Europe and the West".