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President Vladimir Putin of Russia: Good day, dear colleagues.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you here to the Kremlin.

This now traditional Russian-European summit is taking place today at a significant time with the European Union having just recently taken in new members, including our closest neighbours with whom Russia has longstanding and diverse ties. The European Union is also today on the threshold of taking important decisions that will set the priorities for its institutional development. Russia, too, has set itself an ambitious programme of modernisation, economic and social development.

I firmly believe that at such a decisive time for us both, we, as partners, have a great need for ongoing dialogue and mutual support. In this respect, it is important that we speed up implementation of the strategic agreements reached in St. Petersburg and Rome on creating a common space built on four areas: the economy, freedom, security and justice, external security, and also a common space for scientific research, education and culture.

Dear colleagues,

This summit’s main aim, I think, is to examine in detail and give a political impulse to each of these areas, define their outline and identify the problems to be worked on. We will also have to settle a number of organisational questions. In this connection, I wish to inform you that Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, who you all know well from your work together in Brussels, will be responsible for general coordination of the Russian ministries’ work with the European Union.

For our part, we have already designated coordinators on the Russian side for work on each of these common spaces. Mr Khristenko, the industry and energy minister, will oversee work on the common economic space, including the energy sector, transport and the environment. Presidential Aide Mr Ivanov will organise work on the Russian side on the common spaces for freedom, security and justice, or rather, he will continue the work that has already begun. Mr Lavrov, the foreign minister, will oversee work on the common external security space, and Presidential Aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky will work on the common scientific research, education and cultural space. As special presidential representative for developing relations with the European Union, he will also be involved overall in work with the European Parliament and European non-government organisations. I hope that the European Union will also move quickly to put in place the relevant organisational mechanisms.

Now a few words about the European Union proposals that we received on April 29.

We think these proposals reflect a serious approach on the part of our colleagues to creating the common spaces that I referred to before, and many of the ideas put forward can be used for our further joint work. We very much want this joint work to be constructive, to reflect the interests of both sides and to go ahead in parallel so that we can identify our common priorities and strive to achieve our common objectives. It is my conviction that there should not be leaders and led in this dialogue. We have the ability to find compromises in every area, even regarding what seem at first glance rather controversial questions.

At the same time, I would like to point out that delays in work on creating these common spaces are already holding back the development of joint projects in business, science and culture. We have discussed this matter before at our meetings and have heard this before from our colleagues in the business community and in non-governmental organisations.

During this summit the Russian side will present its vision of our relations within the framework of creating these common spaces and taking into account the proposals made by the European Union. The way we see it, the coordinators’ work should begin with developing a concept. This will enable all particularities and different development paces to be taken into account and will ensure that efforts are concentrated on priority areas. Once we have an agreed concept, we could prepare concrete proposals in the form of action plans and road maps in time for the next summit in the Netherlands.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that we think our partnership could give the European continent far greater weight in world politics, in the economy, trade, and in deciding global security issues. We are firm in our desire that today’s Russia-European Union summit take a step closer towards achieving this aim.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland: Thank you very much, Mr President. Thank you for your words of welcome.

I would like to congratulate you on the beginning of second term as President of the Russian Federation and give you my best wishes in resolving the problems you face. On behalf of the European Union I would like to say that we are eager to work in close cooperation with you on building a strategic partnership between the European Union and Russia.

As you said, this is a time of new beginnings for the European Union. Three weeks ago, we welcomed ten new members to our union. It is an honour for me that the Irish presidency now represents an enlarged union. This enlargement brings Russia and the European Union closer together as it creates new opportunities for cooperation. Relations with Russia play a key part in ensuring Europe’s security and in reaching the agreements in Luxembourg on April 27 on extending the partnership and cooperation agreements to the new member states. We have opened a new page in our relations with Russia and we are pleased to have achieved this.

I would also like pay my due to Foreign Minister Lavrov and his colleagues working on the European Union enlargement declaration. The European Union considers that we have good contacts for discussion today. This gives new impetus to cooperation between the Russian Federation and the enlarged European Union. The European Union is absolutely committed to full implementation of our joint declarations and we eagerly await the unconditional ratification of this declaration by the Duma very soon.

Mr President, I would like to take this opportunity to declare once again the European Union’s decisive condemnation of the explosion in Grozny that caused the death of President Kadyrov. There can be no place for such violence in a democratic society. We wish to convey our sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims.

Our partnership should be a force for ensuring stability and a common space, and we should make use of the opportunity that, as we see it, the European Union’s enlargement gives us.

You were right, Mr President, when you said in your inauguration address that only free countries can achieve genuine success. These are the values that make our partnership strong. We welcome this statement and your commitment to developing a genuine multiparty system and strengthening personal freedoms. I think that we now have an excellent opportunity to discuss how we can work together to improve the quality of life and ensure the prosperity of our peoples on this continent. We are grateful to you for this opportunity to work in this direction. I would now like to give the floor to the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi.

Eu Commission President Romano Prodi: Mr President, thank you for your words.

The Irish Prime Minister said this is our first meeting since your second term in office began, and it is the last meeting of my first and only term. This is very important to me and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you personally for the work that we have done over these years.

Relations between the European Union and Russia have made a lot of progress. We are striving for further and even deeper relations between us. I think this will enable us to help each other in economic, social and cultural development. The common space that we are discussing is the tool that will allow us to achieve the most durable cooperation between Russia and the European Union.

At one of our earlier meetings I said that the European Union and Russia are like vodka and caviar. I don’t know who is the vodka and who is the caviar, but I know that we are moving in the right direction. Speaking briefly about today’s agenda, enlargement has clearly taken place. We worked for an exchange of opinions and information in order to optimise this process and achieve the best possible regulation of our policy as neighbours. Now we are neighbours along a common border that extends for many hundreds of miles. We successfully concluded talks on extending the partnership and cooperation agreements between Russia and the European Union. This was not easy but we did it quickly and correctly. Before turning to the common space, I would like to say a few words about the joint declaration on European Union enlargement and relations between Russia and the European Union that we approved in April.

First, I hope the Russian government will support ratification by the Duma of this partnership agreement and declaration on enlargement as soon as possible. Second, I think this is very important – it is a symbol of our friendship. So far, we have focused a lot on transit to and from Kaliningrad. Now it is important to concentrate our attention on developing this region. This is in our common interests. In order to broaden Kaliningrad Oblast’s development prospects, our working group will carry out a general study of this question and the European Union will allocate sizeable resources to it.

We welcome recognition of membership in the European Union as protection for minority groups. The Commission has always noted that European Union member states that have sizeable Russian-speaking minorities must ensure protection for these groups. Of course, there are a number of problems. The OSCE and the Council of Europe have noted the need for considerably more flexibility. The Commission supports and places importance on integrating the Russian-speaking population into the broader European Union. It is important not only for the European Union to support this integration, but also for the Russian-speaking population to itself become a part of the broader European Union.

In conclusion, Mr President, I would like to say a few words about our common fight against terrorism. I welcome your efforts regarding a conference on Iraq and I hope that we, the European Union and Russia, can join the efforts being made in this direction. Only through joining forces will we achieve results. I also hope that when we examine this problem we will not forget about the problem of the Middle East, which is, in my opinion, the source of all the tension and tragedies that we currently face in the world.

Thank you.