The New York Times

Friday, December 10, 1999

EU Condemns Russia Over Chechnya

By The Associated Press

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- European Union leaders opened the door a crack for Turkey on Friday, offering hope for eventual entry into the organization, then struggled to draft a tough statement condemning Russia for its bloody assault on Chechnya.

The EU wanted to send the strongest possible message to Moscow, though the 15 leaders here for a two-day summit had little real ammunition to back it up. In the end, they said some of the provisions of Russia's partnership agreement with the union would be suspended and trade provisions applied strictly.

The leaders condemned the continued bombardment of Grozny, capital of Chechnya, and Moscow's ultimatum that residents must leave the city by Saturday or suffer the consequences.

``The European Council does not question the right of Russia to preserve its territorial integrity nor its right to fight terrorism,'' the EU declaration said. ``However the fight against terrorism cannot ... warrant the destruction of cities, nor that they be emptied of their inhabitants, nor that a whole population be considered as terrorists.''

Chris Patten, the EU commissioner for foreign affairs, said Russia has a $10 billion trade surplus with the European Union and that there are a number of areas in which Moscow is not respecting the trade agreement between them. The EU said it plans to pursue this vigorously. Some aid to Russia may also be changed to humanitarian assistance.

Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen, the summit host, said EU leaders set themselves a goal of December 2002 to complete an overhaul of the union's institutions to prepare for the influx of as many as a dozen newcomers.

Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Malta are now formal candidates for membership, Lipponen said. Their entry talks are expected to open early next year.

All, except latecomer Malta, were put on hold in 1997, when the EU agreed to open negotiations with Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, and Cyprus.

``The Iron Curtain has now been definitely removed,'' said Guenter Verheugen, the EU's commissioner for enlargement.

The EU also declared Turkey an official candidate for membership of the union. But officials in Helsinki said entry talks with Turkey will not start any time soon. First the government in Ankara must show it is serious about improving its human rights record and accept the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, as the final arbiter of its territorial disputes with Greece.

The European Union said Turkey needs to do more to help overcome the division of Cyprus, a country in line to join the EU, which Turkish troops invaded in 1974. Ankara props up a Turkish-Cypriot republic in the northern part of the Mediterranean island that no other country recognizes.

The EU leaders dispatched Javier Solana, chief of the EU's foreign and security policy, to Ankara on Friday evening to spell out the decision to the Turkish leadership.

Ankara previously has said that it will not accepted conditions to its candidacy. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who called Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Friday, said he was ``cautiously optimistic'' the Turkish leader will accept the EU offer.

The EU presidents and prime ministers also agreed to craft a common defense policy and put together a rapid deployment force up to 60,000 peacekeepers by 2003 to defuse crises on the EU's doorstep.

Washington says it supports the initiative as long as it does not draw the Europeans out of the 19-nation NATO alliance. In principle, the Americans say, any strengthening of European military capability is good for NATO.