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Sarkozy on EU-backed trip to Moscow to urge troop withdrawal
The Moscow Times leads with the story that French president Nicolas Sarkozy is heading to Moscow today to urge Russia to pull out of Georgian areas around South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Sarkozy, whose government brokered the six-point ceasefire deal signed in August by both Georgia and Russia, wants Russian troops to withdraw to areas agreed under the plan.
El País says that the three leaders' trip to Moscow comes after EU foreign ministers last week agreed in principle to Russian plans to establish a western alliance that could end up with the creation of 'energy blocs'.
The paper goes on to say that the Georgia crisis has shown up the EU's dependence on Russia for energy.
The Moscow Times quotes a “defiant” Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, ahead of the French leader’s visit. “We have reached the moment of truth. It became a different world after Aug. 8.
“Russia will never allow anyone to threaten the lives and dignity of its citizens. Russia is a nation to be reckoned with from now on.”
The Financial Times says that European commission president José Manuel Barroso and the bloc’s foreign policy chief will accompany Sarkozy on the trip.
The paper goes on to say that the meeting kicks off an important stage in relations between the EU and its eastern neighbours, after the bloc’s foreign ministers in an informal meeting last Friday pledged to cement ties with countries like Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus.
A bilateral summit of EU and Ukrainian leaders will take place in Evian on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph says a bad translation of the French-brokeredceasefire deal has caused confusion over Russian withdrawal toso-called 'buffer zones' outside the regions of Abkhazia and SouthOssetia.
According to the paper, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchneradmitted the agreement was originally written in French, thentranslated to English before Russian.
When asked what problems surrounded the buffer zones, the paper quotes him replying, "The translation, as always."
Serbian opposition in disarray after EU row
The Financial Times reports on the weekend resignation of Tomislav Nikolic, acting leader of Serbia’s main nationalist opposition party, over a row with his imprisoned party chairman on whether to back closer ties with the EU.
The paper says Nikolic, of the Serbian Radical Party, intended to support a vote later this week in Serbia’s parliament on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Brussels.
But his boss, party chairman Vojislav Seselj, who is on trial in The Hague for alleged 1990s war crimes, reversed Nikolic’s endorsement because of fears that the agreement would see Serbia’s claim on Kosovo being abandoned by the current pro-EU government.
Deutsche Welle says that it is still not clear how SRS members in parliament will vote later this week, adding that the way SRS deputies vote may also hint at the future of the party - whether it will shift more to the political centre as Nikolic wants, remain on the extreme right, as Seselj wants, or if it will split.
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Georgia takes Russia to international court
Deutsche Welle says Georgia is to appeal to the international court of justice today to impose emergency measures on Russia until it upholds its end of a French-brokered ceasefire agreement.
The emergency three-day hearing will look at a suit filed by Georgia against Russia last month, accusing Moscow of ethnic cleansing by driving Georgians out of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Top EU trade official in cash-for-secrets investigation
The Telegraph reports that one of the EU’s top trade officials is said to have passed on information on import levies and market access to journalists posing as China lobbyists.
Fritz-Harald Wenig, one of trade chief Peter Mandelson’s closest aides, says the paper, is being investigated after fears that Chinese business espionage has penetrated to the highest levels of the Brussels administration.
The International Herald Tribune says that Wenig, who was reportedly caught on tape by Sunday Times journalists posing as middlemen for Chinese companies, discussed but did not accept cash payments or offers of employment with Chinese firms.
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Steinmeier to take on Merkel for German leadership
German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has confirmed that he will be the centre-left candidate in next year’s German elections, Le Figaro reports.
The 52-year-old will stand against centre-right leader Angela Merkel in the battle to become the German chancellor, but faces a tough fight.
The paper notes that Steinmeier’s SPD party is at its lowest ever rating in the polls, and that the party is riven by internal conflict over a possible alliance with far-left groups.
Giscard D'Estaing: EU should acknowledge low confidence in integration
Former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is to tell a conference in London today that member states should accept that not everyone has confidence in European integration, reports the Telegraph.
However, the paper says that Giscard d'Estaing, who was the key architect of the failed European constitution, will also tell the conference, organised by campaign group Global Vision, that integration is vital for Europe.
“Integration is vital for Europe: it is a question of scale that will become vital in the world of tomorrow.
“The EU has already come too far with the project of closer integration to stop now.”
