Ahto Lobjakas

Also by Ahto Lobjakas

• July 11, 2006

  EU: Barroso Calls On G8 To Agree Global Energy Principles

  An oil field in Russia's Tomsk Oblast (file photo) (ITAR-TASS) BRUSSELS, July 11, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The EU has said on the eve of the meeting of leaders of the G8 -- comprising the world’s largest industrialized nations and Russia -- that it wants the summit to agree a set of “key principles” for the global energy trade.

• July 11, 2006

  Afghanistan: Foreign Minister Attacks Pakistani Support For 'Terrorism'

  Foreign Minister Spanta (right) in May 2006 (AFP) Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta used an appearance before the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee in Brussels today to appeal for greater international support. Spanta identified intensified insurgent attacks -- mainly in the south of the country -- as the main danger. He also made it clear Kabul thinks Pakistan is behind what he described as "terrorists" bent on destroying his country.

• July 06, 2006

  EU Parliamentarians Debate Issue Of CIA Renditions

  There is a growing consensus among EU deputies and officials that more should be done to hold member states accountable -- and to make cooperation with the CIA more difficult.

• July 04, 2006

  Finland To Relaunch 'Northern Dimension'

  The European Union's Finnish presidency has made Russia the main external focus of its six-month term. As part of the attention to Russia, Finland wants to revitalize the EU's "Northern Dimension," an assistance policy for northwestern Russia launched in 1999, but lately losing impetus.

• July 03, 2006

  Helsinki Meeting Floats Idea Of Free Trade With Russia

  The European Commission has held out the prospect of a free-trade area with Russia as part of upcoming talks on the EU's future.

• June 30, 2006

  Finland Lays Out Goals For New EU Presidency

  Finland will take over the rotating EU Presidency for six months on July 1. Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen says the focus of his country’s presidency will be relations with Russia, energy policy, and enlargement.

• June 27, 2006

  Rights Watchdog Backs CIA Renditions Report

  The Council of Europe has passed a resolution accusing European states of collusion in the abduction and "extraordinary rendition" of European citizens suspected of terrorist links.

• June 16, 2006

  Enlargement On Hold Over Constitutional Crisis

  The two-day EU summit confirmed that the collapse of the union’s constitution means that brakes will be put on further enlargement. The summit also marked an increasing turn inwards in the European Union, with internal security being foremost in most leaders’ minds.

• June 15, 2006

  EU: Constitutional Impasse Threatens Enlargement

  Croatian President Stjepan Mesic welcomes European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (left) (epa) The two-day summit meeting of EU leaders beginning today in Brussels is likely to confirm that the collapse of the union's constitution means brakes will be put on further enlargement.

• June 15, 2006

  EU Envoy Sees Confidence-Building 'Deficit'

  Following an OSCE donors conference in Brussels for infrastructure projects in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, RFE/RL asked the EU's new special representative for the South Caucasus what can be done to improve relations between Tbilisi and Tskhinvali.

• June 14, 2006

  Georgia: Trust An Issue At South Ossetia Donors Conference

  (RFE/RL) BRUSSELS, June 14, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- A first-ever international donors conference for South Ossetia took place in Brussels today under the auspices of the current Belgian presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

• June 13, 2006

  Obstacles To Tolerance | European experts debate the issues

  BRUSSELS, June 13, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- A meeting of scholars in Brussels has concluded that frictions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe have their roots in prejudices created by social tensions and often uncritically accepted sweeping generalizations.

• June 12, 2006

  Turkey: EU Talks Will Be A Tough Struggle

  Cypriot Foreign Minister Goerge Iacovou speaks to reporters in Luxembourg today (epa) After hours of unscheduled consultations with Cyprus, EU foreign ministers today managed to begin talks with Turkey on the substance of its possible future membership. The talks will have to cover a total of 35 "chapters" of EU law, and Turkey's refusal to normalize relations with Cyprus -- an EU member state -- is likely to remain an issue at every step

• June 08, 2006

  NATO Promises Robust Action In South

  Defense ministers representing the 37 nations participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan met with their Afghan counterpart Abdul Rahim Wardak in Brussels.

• June 07, 2006

  Brussels Targeting Central Asia's Energy

  Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs tells RFE/RL that the EU is currently seeking long-term supply contracts with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as promoting a string of pipelines to take Central Asian gas and oil to Europe, circumventing Russia.

• June 02, 2006

  EU: Brussels Mulls Over Its Energy Sources

  Could oil eventually pass through this Kazakh pipeline to Europe? (file photo) (ITAR-TASS) A new report underscores the growing importance of energy to the EU's foreign policy. That increases the significance of Russia, but also reinforces a growing feeling in Brussels that alternative sources are needed.

• June 01, 2006

  EU Deputies Urge World-Cup Ban For Ahmadinejad

  A group of European Parliament deputies has launched an appeal to bar Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad from entering the European Union to watch his country in soccer's World Cup.

• May 30, 2006

  Compromise Offer To Test Tehran's Nuclear Intent

  Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign-policy chief, said that if Iran rejects an EU package of incentives, it would be a clear sign that Tehran is pursuing uranium enrichment in order to acquire nuclear weapons.

• May 22, 2006

  Energy: U.S. Official Urges Reforms In Producer Countries

  Oil derricks in the Caspian Sea near the Azerbaijani capital, Baku (file photo) (AFP) With energy security quickly moving up on its agenda, the U.S. administration is putting pressure on oil- and gas-rich countries to open up their economies and initiate political reforms. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Anthony Wayne told a seminar in Brussels today that producer countries in Central Asia, the Caspian region, and elsewhere risk missing out on the investments necessary to develop their resources.

• May 18, 2006

  Signs Of Discord As Lavrov Meets Lawmakers

  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, providing EU lawmakers with a rare opportunity to quiz the Russian minister on a range of questions important to EU-Russian relations and current international issues.

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