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EU says Riga summit 'not anti-Russia beauty contest' EU says Riga summit 'not anti-Russia beauty contest'
(about 2 hours later)
An EU summit with six former Soviet states has opened in Latvia with an EU leader saying it is not a "beauty contest" to distance them from Russia. An EU summit with six former Soviet states has opened in Latvia with one leader saying it is not a "beauty contest" to distance them from Russia.
European Council President Donald Tusk accused Russia of "aggressive and bullying tactics" towards its ex-Soviet neighbours. Ukraine and Georgia are among the EU's eastern partners.European Council President Donald Tusk accused Russia of "aggressive and bullying tactics" towards its ex-Soviet neighbours. Ukraine and Georgia are among the EU's eastern partners.
But Mr Tusk said the partnership was a "long haul", not aimed against Russia.But Mr Tusk said the partnership was a "long haul", not aimed against Russia.
It is overshadowed by Russia's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.It is overshadowed by Russia's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Mr Tusk said it would be better if Russia were "a bit softer, more charming" - and in that sense "beauty does count" in international relations. Mr Tusk said that if Russia was "a bit softer, more charming [...] perhaps it would not have to compensate its shortcomings by destructive aggressive and bullying tactics against its neighbours."
He said that the bloc was determined to support its poorer neighbours despite Russian pressure: "The European Union stays the course despite the intimidation, the aggression, even the war, of the last year," he said.
Russia out of G7Russia out of G7
Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU's Eastern Partnership "is not an instrument for pursuing an expansionist EU policy". Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU's Eastern Partnership was not "an instrument for pursuing an expansionist EU policy".
But she also ruled out letting Russia rejoin the G7 group of major industrialised nations, saying "so long as Russia does not comply with basic common values, a return to the G8 format is not imaginable for us". The G7 meets in Elmau, southern Germany, next month. She said that there was a "crystal clear difference with Russia".
On arrival in the Latvian capital Riga the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, said Thursday's talks were not about EU membership for the six partnership countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. "We accept that the different Eastern Partnership nations can go their own way and we accept these different ways," she added.
"They are not ready, we are not ready," he stressed. He also said Greece - short of funds to pay back its international creditors - was "not on the agenda". Mrs Merkel also ruled out letting Russia rejoin the G7 group of major industrialised nations, saying "so long as Russia does not comply with basic common values, a return to the G8 format is not imaginable for us".
The G7 meets in Elmau, southern Germany, next month.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday's talks were not about EU membership for the six partnership countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
He also said Greece - short of funds to pay back its international creditors - was "not on the agenda".
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko meanwhile insisted that he was "not disappointed" with a draft joint statement due to be released on Friday that will reaffirm the "European aspirations" of Ukraine and other countries.
Military trainingMilitary training
As the two-day Riga summit got under way, Georgia and Ukraine were conducting military training drills with US troops.As the two-day Riga summit got under way, Georgia and Ukraine were conducting military training drills with US troops.
Russia accuses the US and Nato of striving to pull its former Soviet partners into the Western camp, to Russia's detriment.Russia accuses the US and Nato of striving to pull its former Soviet partners into the Western camp, to Russia's detriment.
Russia is exerting pressure on ex-Soviet states to join a Moscow-led "Eurasian Union". It is exerting pressure on ex-Soviet states to join a Moscow-led "Eurasian Union".
A far-reaching EU-Ukraine association agreement angered Russia. A far-reaching EU-Ukraine association agreement has angered Russia.
The Ukraine crisis erupted after the last Eastern Partnership summit, in Lithuania in November 2013. That was when former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych - an ally of Russia - refused to sign the association agreement, in an abrupt reversal of policy. At the summit the EU is expected to approve €1.8bn (£1.3bn; $2bn) for Ukraine - the last instalment of a €3.4bn aid programme.
He fled from Kiev in February 2014 amid vast anti-government protests in which more than 100 people died. There is much alarm in Latvia and its Baltic neighbours Estonia and Lithuania over Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.
The pro-Western government, formed after fresh elections, signed the association agreement, but the crucial free trade part of it was suspended until January 2016 so that Russian concerns about it could be addressed. The three Baltic states were under Russian domination during decades of communism.
Mrs Merkel told the Bundestag - the lower house of the German parliament - that it was each partner state's "sovereign decision if they want to forge close ties [with the EU]... nobody has a right to block that path".
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Spreading EU values
At the summit the EU is expected to approve €1.8bn (£1.3bn; $2bn) for Ukraine - the last instalment of a €3.4bn aid programme.
Latvian MEP Sandra Kalniete, a leading figure in the European Parliament's centre-right EPP bloc, urged EU leaders to make a political commitment to visa liberalisation for the six partnership countries "within a short time".
A fellow EPP politician, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski from Poland, said the Eastern Partnership was "strategically important" but faced a challenge from "Russia and its imperialistic policy in the region".
There is much alarm in Latvia and its Baltic neighbours Estonia and Lithuania over Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. The three Baltic states were under Russian domination during decades of communism.
The EU trade and association agreements aim to encourage ex-Soviet states to adopt EU standards not only in trade, but also in human rights and governance.
Chancellor Merkel said the agreements were tailored to the situation of each partner state individually.