By Martin Banks - 24th January 2008
EU-Russian relations are at the lowest point in their history, a conference in Brussels was told.
Russian presidential candidate Mikhail Kasyanov told the conference on Thursday that relations between the two were now at "an important turning point".
Kasyanov, current leader of the People’s Democratic Union, also said that Russian president Vladimir Putin, recently named man of the year by Time magazine, was "intent on preserving power in the hands of a small elite".
"The current regime will not organise fair and open elections," said Kasyanov, who, in the most recent polls, was attracting about six per cent of the vote ahead of presidential elections, expected on 2 March.
Kasyanov, a former prime minister of Russia, was speaking at a news conference during a one-day event on EU-Russian relations, organised by the international group, the European Liberal Democrat and Reform party (ELDR).
ELDR president Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, a Belgian MEP, said, "Putin is trying to find a role for Russia and is starting to impose himself on every level, not least on the issue of security of energy supply.
"The EU should be wary of this and not give in to Russia."
She added, "The elections will resolve whether Russia soon becomes an integral part of the European community or vice versa."
The event, ‘Russia: A part of Europe or apart from Europe’, attracted a range of senior officials from both the EU and Russia.
She said it was designed to "dispel" some of the "misunderstandings" which currently exist between the EU and Moscow.
Polish ALDE MEP, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, deputy chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told the conference, "My big concern is that, in recent times, Russia has moved from democracy to an authoritarian regime.
"Even so, I would still like the EU to engage with Moscow. We cannot base our relations with Russia simply on economic and commercial grounds but on the common values we share."
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