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The Moscow Times Moscow Guide – Winter 2008

Since the middle of autumn one of the most important topics of discussion, could only be … no, not the financial crisis… New Year! The winter issue of The Moscow Times Moscow Guide is entirely devoted to New Years celebrations. Seven great ideas for celebrating the “Night of Nights” will help readers finalise their plans and choose how and where to party, give fresh ideas and lots of practical advice.

And don’t forget – problems will come by themselves, but happiness and luck need an invitation. That why the more cheerful and light-hearted your celebration of the coming holiday is, the happier and more successful 2009 will be for you.

The Crisis: Signs of a Kremlin Fearful Of Unrest
Sociologist Yevgeny Gontmakher has painted a disturbing picture of what might emerge from the financial crisis, forecasting continued unemployment, huge protests and spreading violence.

Market Matters: Huge Grain Harvest No Boon for Farmers
This year Russia is enjoying the biggest grain harvest it has ever seen -- and farmers couldn't be more worried.



Thursday, January 08, 2009 Updated at 31 December 2008 22:36 Moscow Time.

The Moscow Times » Issue 4035 » Comment

Summit in Nice Proves We Can Work Together

20 November 2008By Vasily Likachev

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The EU-Russia summit held in Nice last week clearly showed that the two sides are capable of creating constructive proposals to address not only the financial crisis but also areas such as global and regional security, the environment, nuclear nonproliferation, the demilitarization of space, the fight against AIDS, food prices and supply, drug trafficking and support for the United Nations.

President Dmitry Medvedev's proposal for a new European security pact received particularly strong support at the Nice summit. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner supported the initiative despite attempts by members of the European Parliament and the Polish and Latvian governments to dissuade them.

An expanded meeting to discuss this proposal, which would include the EU, NATO, countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States and members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, has a good chance of being held in June or July. This will help push other security-related issues onto the agenda.

Economic and energy issues also received attention at the summit. Participants confirmed nine omnibus resolutions concerning talks on energy issues.

EU officials once again heard Medvedev give his unconditional guarantee that Russia would fulfill energy obligations to its European customers. This offers an important opportunity for strengthening EU-Russia integration. The most important thing is not to lose this chance, especially given the current crisis.

In commending both the EU and Russian efforts, however, we must be realists. Despite the progress achieved at the Nice summit, Russia and the EU cannot drastically improve their strategic cooperation overnight. This is because anti-Russian sentiment remains in the EU, and Poland and Latvia in particular will not soften their stances in the near future.

Many are waiting to see what concrete steps U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will initially take toward Russia.

The summit in Nice provided a positive start to rebuilding the EU-Russian partnership. The main goal now is to avoid losing ground. Moscow has no plan to take a step backward because we are advocates of a progressive foreign policy.

Vasily Likhachev, formerly Russia's ambassador and permanent representative to the European Union in Brussels, is the deputy chairman of the International Affairs Committee in the Federation Council.