Stalemate

For all the talk of "strategic partnership" and "working closely together on counter-terrorism for the future", it seems that nothing much happened at the London get-together after all. The main focus of the security talks appears to have been Iran - and as it's well-known where the Kremlin stands on that particular issue, it's hard to see how much progress could have been made in any case. From RFE/RL's daily update:

RUSSIA-EU SUMMIT ENDS WITHOUT BREAKTHROUGH... The EU-Russia talks in London between President Vladimir Putin, European Commission officials, and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 October 2005) ended with no tangible results and no agreements have been signed, RFE/RL reported on 4 October. Speaking at a press conference with Blair, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, Putin announced that progress was made in easing EU visa regulations for some categories of Russian citizens, including businessmen, journalists, and students, and that a visa-facilitation agreement can be signed by the end of the year, RTR and other media reported. "We believe that these arrangements are a stage that would help us approach a visa-free regime," Putin said. In response, Russia agreed to readmit illegal immigrants arriving in Europe through Russia. "Komsomolskaya pravda" noted on 5 October that although Russia has such "friends" in the EU as Germany. France, Italy, Spain,and Greece, in general the EU "does not understand us." "We ask their help in observation of ethnic Russians' rights in the Baltics, but they say you should care more about Chinese, Vietnamese, or Tajik immigrants in Russia. Or we ask them to facilitate visa entry, but they say first sign border agreements with the Baltic states." VY

While it's possible that the visa "deal" may mean that Chechens who have found themselves to have the status of illegal aliens in EU countries might be sent back to Russia, it's more likely that the whole thing is just a piece of window-dressing to please the small numbers of "businessmen, journalists and students" who might like to be able to visit Russia more easily. At all events, one might speculate that it's not really likely to increase the appeal of Russia - in its present state and under its present regime - to Western tourists.