madam president yet another eu-russia summit is taking place this week
major changes have occurred in the world since the last one
let me mention among them firstly the arab revolutions a process of deep transformation which affects virtually the whole arab world
the disaster at the fukushima nuclear power plant reshaped the future of nuclear power especially with regard to safety
climate change has brought more and more dangerous consequences
osama is dead but terrorism is alive and has targeted innocent people all over the world
the list of events is long and all of them concern both the eu and russia two neighbouring global players with predominantly similar or complementary long-term interests
their relations can only be further developed if they are based on mutual respect openness and transparency
any hidden agenda has the potential to distort if not destroy these relations
the eu and parliament have always been clear about the expectations of european citizens
now with regard to the upcoming summit i would like to highlight four issues
first of all the summit should bring decisive progress on all the remaining obstacles related to russia's accession to the wto
this important step will create better opportunities for the business communities on both sides and will further liberalise trade and economic relations globally
in this respect the application of protectionist measures is counterproductive and we hope they will not be hidden behind overplayed health threats which is in our opinion the recent case with the ban on imports of vegetables from the eu
we hope that the road map for visa-free travelling announced in may will accelerate further visa facilitation and will bring closer the moment when the visa regime between the eu and russia will be fully liberalised
to this end parliament expects that some politically sensitive issues will be properly addressed by the russian authorities in particular by stopping the issuing of russian passports to the residents of south ossetia and abkhazia
i would like to see a more constructive engagement of russia in our efforts to support democratisation economic and social progress and stability in the six countries in the eastern partnership
the last two years have clearly shown that this eu initiative is not aimed at competition but rather at cooperation with russia since the stable and self-confident common neighbourhood is in the interests of both the eu and russia
in this respect we urge russia to intensify its efforts in facilitating the peaceful resolution of the conflicts in transnistria and in the more and more worrying nagorno-karabakh region
finally i would like to mention that the eu and russia should fully cooperate in the revision and elaboration of higher standards for nuclear power safety following the events in japan
we expect that higher standards are kept not only in the newly built but also in the already operational nuclear power plants
i hope that this issue can be part of the discussions in nizhny novgorod
