Remarks by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, at the EU-Russia Summit

Good afternoon - Dobri Dien

This summit has been held in a defining time both for the EU and Russia.

In the EU we have the new treaty and new institutional actors. We are manoeuvring our way through the economic and financial crisis, with the aim of coming out stronger than before. Our response to the recent public debt crisis has shown the world that the European Union is capable of acting decisively. We will continue to do so.

The EU has to work hard on financial consolidation and competitiveness, and on strengthening our economic structures and growth in the framework of EU 2020 economic strategy. This is vital for our position on the world stage.

Russia is also at crossroads. President Medvedev’s ambition to base Russia’s modernisation in the 21st century on democratic values, by building a modern diversified and dynamic economy, and by encouraging the active involvement of civil society, is a significant development for Russia.

We want to be Russia’s partner in modernisation. That is why I am glad that we are launching the Partnership for Modernisation, and that we have agreed on its scope and priorities. I believe this will promote reform and give renewed momentum to our relationship, develop our cooperation on trade, economy and energy security. It will also contribute to the global economic recovery.

However, for the partnership to bear fruit, the Russian modernisation needs to become a reality, and it needs to follow a certain path and to avoid protectionism. In the light of this, I welcome the renewed momentum in Russia to join the WTO.

In this context, we also talked about the long term goal of visa free travel. In my view, contacts between Russian and European business, students, professors and others would enormously strengthen the forces of modernisation. We therefore remain committed to making concrete progress, as soon as possible, on the ground.

Direct link to the press release