EU
must improve Russia ties, says Commission chief Juncker
9 October 2015 / BBC
/ EUROPE
The
EU must restore a "practical relationship" with Russia and
not let the US "dictate" that policy, the European
Commission chief has said.
Jean-Claude Juncker
criticised US President Barack Obama's description of Russia as
merely "a regional power".
EU-US sanctions were
imposed on Russia because of its intervention in Ukraine. Mr Obama
had a frosty meeting recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Russia must be
treated decently," Mr Juncker said in Germany.
"We must make
efforts towards a practical relationship with Russia. It is not sexy
but that must be the case, we can't go on like this," he said,
during a visit to Passau in southern Germany.
Last year the West
imposed visa bans and asset freezes on dozens of senior Russian
officials.
The sanctions also
restricted Russian access to Western bank credits and industrial
technology in the defence and energy sectors. In retaliation, Russia
banned most imports of Western food and drink.
Syria tensions
Passau has become a
major transit hub for non-EU migrants seeking a new life in Germany,
and Mr Juncker's visit was focused on the EU's efforts to handle the
migrant influx.
The civil war in
Syria is driving rising numbers of Syrians into Turkey and onwards to
Central Europe. Turkey already hosts about two million Syrians in
basic refugee camps.
The body language
was awkward at the Obama-Putin talks at the UN
Last week Mr Obama
sharply criticised Russia's air strikes in Syria, which began at the
end of September.
The US and UK
governments are worried that Russia's help for Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad will keep him in power and weaken the "moderate"
Syrian groups fighting to oust him.
Russia insists that
its air strikes are mainly targeting the so-called Islamic State
(IS), while Western leaders dispute that.
Referring to the
current tensions in EU-Russia relations Mr Juncker said "we
can't let our relationship with Russia be dictated by Washington".
But he also urged
Russia to make a "massive" policy shift. "The way they
have acted in Crimea and eastern Ukraine is not acceptable," he
said.
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