Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-18-Speech-3-321"
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"en.20080618.25.3-321"2
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"Mr. President, Madam Commissioner, colleagues, let me start by saying that the world is a very different place today and the juxtaposition of blocs is a thing of the past. Russia has changed a lot, too. The Russia of June 2008 is very different from the Russia of June 2000, for example. The European Union is faced with the challenge to build and develop a new type of relations for which there is no comparison in the past. We need to develop these relations with the clear understanding that there are much more things that unite us than those that divide us. There are many problems we can solve only in cooperation with Russia. These refer also to global issues such as climate change, combating hunger and pandemics, terrorism. There are others which are regional in their nature yet have an enormous significance for the European Union: energy security, trade and economic links, relations with common neighbours. There are also issue that divide us: human rights, freedom of speech, how we understand democracy and democratic systems. But we need to be pragmatic enough and develop our dialogue not in confrontation but by focusing on our common goals.
It is a fact that in recent years mistrust has built up but now we have the opportunity to start a dialogue with the new Kremlin occupant. I would like to draw your attention to Russia’s role in the Western Balkans. I believe we need a very active dialogue in order to engage Russia in finding solutions for the problems in the region, to convince it to support the European Union efforts to ensure long-term stability, including through the EULEX mission in Kosovo. I would like the upcoming summit to deal also with the role of Russia in the Black Sea region and state that it is up to us whether the ‘divide and rule’ policy will apply or not."@en1
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