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EU heads meet on Caucasus conflict

Czech leaders focus on economic and humanitarian aid

By Curtis M. Wong
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
September 3rd, 2008 issue

European Union leaders held an emergency meeting Monday in Brussels in an effort to warn Russia to abide by a six-point ceasefire agreement to withdraw from Georgia or risk probationary action.
If Russia opts not to comply, leaders agreed to indefinitely postpone a strategic partnership meeting with EU member states, scheduled for Sept. 15 and 16, as a penalty.
The Brussels meeting was part of an effort to find a unified response to the ongoing Russia-Georgia conflict. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, who attended along with Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, said suspension of the September meeting would be the first in a series of disciplinary sanctions until Russian troops withdraw from Georgia.
However, Topolánek said Georgia is in desperate need of both economic and humanitarian aid, and added that the EU’s focus during the meeting was identifying ways to help the country as opposed to taking steps against Russia.
Economic aid from the EU, Topolánek said, is a top diplomatic priority.
“I can imagine the current situation in Georgia,” Topolánek told the Czech News Agency.
“It is really threatened with economic collapse if investors as well as consumers lose trust. This is, in my opinion, the main area where we must aim our immediate aid, not only humanitarian, but also economic.”
Topolánek went on to note that he had met with his Georgian counterpart, Vladimir Gurgenidze, who gave a detailed account of the situation in his country, earlier that day.
Several diplomats, including Schwarzenberg, supported Topolánek’s suggestions.
“For Schwarzenberg, one of the most important things is that the European Union is heard as just one common voice,” said Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalová. “The priorities of our government are now to help Georgia repair damage from the conflict, and support the territorial integrity of Georgia.”
Schwarzenberg went on to suggest boycotting the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, a proposal which did not receive wide support from other diplomats in attendance, some of whom felt that the same boycott should apply to London in 2012 in protest of the United Kingdom’s role in Iraq.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Monday that EU representatives would be in Moscow Sept. 8 to negotiate with Russian leaders.

Curtis M. Wong can be reached at cwong@praguepost.com


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