EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU concerns about Russia's nuclear safety and human rights standards will not get much attention in Nice on Friday (14 November), as French President Nicolas Sarkozy celebrates his role in ending the Georgia war. Two internal documents on EU-Russia relations prepared by the European Commission and EU diplomats ahead of the summit point to mounting environmental concerns about Russia's defunct nuclear submarines and ageing power plants. Here come the Russians: but a decrepit army and a tottering economy stand behind President Medvedev's ambitions "More than 200 nuclear reactors and some 20,000 spent fuel elements coming from dismantled submarines and icebreakers are stored in poor conditions," in north west Russia, the EU analysis - seen by EUobserver - says. "Russia has prolonged the lifetime of its first generation nuclear reactors, some of which are of the Chernobyl type and close to the EU's border," it adds, noting that an EU-Russia nuclear safety group last met in 2005. The EU has earmarked €40 million to help Russia control the spread of chemical weapons and fissile materials, including retraining some 30,000 weapons scientists at the International Science and Technology Centre in Moscow. But Russia says the centre has already "fulfilled" its task, with financial contributions going down in 2008.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU concerns about Russia's nuclear safety and human rights standards will not get much attention in Nice on Friday (14 November), as French President Nicolas Sarkozy celebrates his role in ending the Georgia war.
Two internal documents on EU-Russia relations prepared by the European Commission and EU diplomats ahead of the summit point to mounting environmental concerns about Russia's defunct nuclear submarines and ageing power plants.
Here come the Russians: but a decrepit army and a tottering economy stand behind President Medvedev's ambitions
"More than 200 nuclear reactors and some 20,000 spent fuel elements coming from dismantled submarines and icebreakers are stored in poor conditions," in north west Russia, the EU analysis - seen by EUobserver - says.
"Russia has prolonged the lifetime of its first generation nuclear reactors, some of which are of the Chernobyl type and close to the EU's border," it adds, noting that an EU-Russia nuclear safety group last met in 2005.
The EU has earmarked €40 million to help Russia control the spread of chemical weapons and fissile materials, including retraining some 30,000 weapons scientists at the International Science and Technology Centre in Moscow.
But Russia says the centre has already "fulfilled" its task, with financial contributions going down in 2008.
NICE, France: French President Nicolas Sarkozy undercut the American rationale for a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe on Friday by saying that the system would do nothing to improve European security. Sarkozy's comments were the strongest to date by an American ally against the missile-defense plans, which have infuriated Russia despite the Bush administration's insistence that they are aimed at protecting Europe from Iran. "Deployment of a missile defense system would bring nothing to security in Europe ... it would complicate things, and would make them move backward," Sarkozy said after a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev smiled and pointed his finger at Sarkozy in approval after the comments from the French president. The remarks came at the end of a week in which the United States and Russia rejected each other's proposed solutions to the standoff over the missile plans, making it increasingly likely that it will not be resolved before U.S. President-elect Barack Obama takes office.
NICE, France: French President Nicolas Sarkozy undercut the American rationale for a U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe on Friday by saying that the system would do nothing to improve European security.
Sarkozy's comments were the strongest to date by an American ally against the missile-defense plans, which have infuriated Russia despite the Bush administration's insistence that they are aimed at protecting Europe from Iran.
"Deployment of a missile defense system would bring nothing to security in Europe ... it would complicate things, and would make them move backward," Sarkozy said after a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev smiled and pointed his finger at Sarkozy in approval after the comments from the French president.
The remarks came at the end of a week in which the United States and Russia rejected each other's proposed solutions to the standoff over the missile plans, making it increasingly likely that it will not be resolved before U.S. President-elect Barack Obama takes office.
With Russia's backing for the G20 summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a new security and defence arrangement between the EU, Russia and the US to be agreed at a summit mid-2009, calling both on Moscow and Washington to refrain from deploying missiles until that date. Mr Sarkozy was speaking at a press conference on Friday (14 November) following the EU-Russia summit held in Nice, alongside his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. President Dmitri Medvedev got French support on security and defence matters, despite not having fully complied with the ceasefire agreement in Georgia "As acting EU council president I propose that mid-2009 we gather for instance within the OSCE [Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe] to lay the basis of what might be a future EU security arrangement ...which would of course involve the Russians and the Americans," Mr Sarkozy said, backing an idea originally proposed by his Russian counterpart. He also expressed his "preoccupation" with Mr Medvedev's threat to deploy short-range missiles in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, on the shores of the Baltic Sea, bordering Poland and Lithuania.
With Russia's backing for the G20 summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a new security and defence arrangement between the EU, Russia and the US to be agreed at a summit mid-2009, calling both on Moscow and Washington to refrain from deploying missiles until that date.
Mr Sarkozy was speaking at a press conference on Friday (14 November) following the EU-Russia summit held in Nice, alongside his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.
President Dmitri Medvedev got French support on security and defence matters, despite not having fully complied with the ceasefire agreement in Georgia
"As acting EU council president I propose that mid-2009 we gather for instance within the OSCE [Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe] to lay the basis of what might be a future EU security arrangement ...which would of course involve the Russians and the Americans," Mr Sarkozy said, backing an idea originally proposed by his Russian counterpart.
He also expressed his "preoccupation" with Mr Medvedev's threat to deploy short-range missiles in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, on the shores of the Baltic Sea, bordering Poland and Lithuania.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France proposed a time-out today in the dangerous arms race prompted by Washington's plans to position a missile defence shield in Europe. Speaking after hosting an EU-Russian summit in the southern city of Nice, Mr Sarkozy proposed that a security summit be held next summer at which Russia, the United States and Europe could hammer out a long-term security framework. He added that the proposed missile shield would do "nothing" to help European security. Mr Sarkozy appears to have won the agreement of his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, who threatened last week to site short-range nuclear missiles in the western enclave of Kaliningrad, on the borders of the EU. "I have suggested that in mid-2009 we could meet within a framework to lay the foundations of what could possibly be a future pan-European security system," Mr Sarkozy said at a joint press conference with Mr Medvedev. "This would bring together the Russians, the American and the Europeans."
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France proposed a time-out today in the dangerous arms race prompted by Washington's plans to position a missile defence shield in Europe.
Speaking after hosting an EU-Russian summit in the southern city of Nice, Mr Sarkozy proposed that a security summit be held next summer at which Russia, the United States and Europe could hammer out a long-term security framework. He added that the proposed missile shield would do "nothing" to help European security.
Mr Sarkozy appears to have won the agreement of his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, who threatened last week to site short-range nuclear missiles in the western enclave of Kaliningrad, on the borders of the EU.
"I have suggested that in mid-2009 we could meet within a framework to lay the foundations of what could possibly be a future pan-European security system," Mr Sarkozy said at a joint press conference with Mr Medvedev. "This would bring together the Russians, the American and the Europeans."
