From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 4/23/2007 12:19 AM Warsaw-Moscow: relation in its lowest level Publication time: Today at 08:18 Djokhar time An "ice period" is beginning in Poland's relation with Russia, a senior Polish official said Sunday after EU and Russian representatives failed to agree a deal on ending a ban on Polish meat imports.
Russia imposed an embargo on Polish meat in November 2005 claiming that meat from third countries was being imported under the cover of Polish produce, which failed to meet health standards.
The issue of lifting the Russian embargo on Polish meat imports topped the agenda of the talks between EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou and Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev that started in the Cypriot resort city of Limassol . The talks yielded no results.
Commenting on the reports about the failed EU-Russia negotiations, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Roman Giertych
said this was a bad signal.
"This means that Russia firmly stands on its position, which contradicts the Russia-EU accord. This means that we are already entering a period of "icy" rather than "cold" bilateral relations," the vice-premier said.
At the same time, Polish Vice-Premier and Agriculture Minister Andrzej Lepper said Russia's refusal to lift the ban was politically motivated.
"It is obvious that this is still a political problem and even more political [than before]," he said, meaning Poland's consent to discuss the U.S. plans to deploy a missile base in the country as part of a missile defense system in Central Europe, and also energy issues.
Last November, EU newcomer Poland vetoed talks on a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Moscow and Brussels to replace the current pact, which expires in late 2007, over the Russian ban on meat and other agricultural imports from Poland. Moscow cited health concerns, but Warsaw said the move was political.
Relations between Russia and Poland, a former Communist Bloc country that joined the EU in May 2004, have deteriorated dramatically in the past few years.
A string of recent diplomatic spats has increased mutual distrust between the two neighbors, prompting many politicians in Warsaw to conclude that the Kremlin is using the embargo on Polish imports as a political weapon.
The European Commission has said there were no grounds for an embargo on Polish products, but has admitted that Poland made deviations from European regulations on meat exports.
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