Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...Name=worldNews

Ukraine leader urges pro-Europe drive despite Kremlin pressure
http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-leader...dS7xYAb3LQtDMD

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

From August 23 2013

Putin warns Ukraine against EU pact

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
"If our neighbours opt to significantly liberalise customs rules with the European Union, the Ukrainian market will inevitably be flooded with high quality goods … and Ukrainian goods will be forced out of the Ukrainian market."

He added: "Then, member states of the Customs Union will have to think about protective measures. Such a possibility exists."

The Customs Union includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.



But Moscow wants to pull in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan as well and to transform it into an EU-type "Eurasian Union" in the coming years.

http://wedg.millenniumweekend.org/fo...ghlight=Russia

http://euobserver.com/foreign/121189

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

Armenia says will join Russia-led customs union
Tue, Sep 3, 2013
http://news.yahoo.com/armenia-says-j...dSTW4Acz_QtDMD

Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia came into existence on January 1, 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customs...tan_and_Russia

Eurasian Economic Community

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia...omic_Community

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

Russia, unhappy with Moldova's EU drive, bans its wine and spirits

Russia on Tuesday announced a ban on imports of Moldovan wines and spirits, saying they contained impurities, a move certain to be seen in the small ex-Soviet republic as retaliation for its drive to expand ties with the European Union.

Russia's public health chief Gennady Onishchenko said the ban on one of Moldova's main export earners, due to come into force on Wednesday, had been imposed because Moldova had consistently failed to act to improve the quality of its produce.

"We don't intend to act as a nanny for the Moldovan economy," Onishchenko said in Moscow, according to Interfax news agency.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...Name=worldNews

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

Again just last Saturday...

EU, US back post-Soviet states amid Russian pressure

The European Union and the United States on Saturday threw their support behind post-Soviet states seeking closer ties with the EU and warned Russian counter-pressure was unacceptable.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who joined the 28 EU foreign ministers at a meeting in Lithuania, called the EU's Eastern Partnership programme "a very important economic plan" to boost business standards, trade and jobs.

Launched in 2009, the Eastern Partnership is aimed at drawing post-Soviet states closer to the EU, something Russia sees as encroaching on its sphere of influence.

http://my.news.yahoo.com/eu-us-back-...150413573.html

and yesterday..

Russia's Medvedev warns Ukraine over joining EU trade bloc

http://za.news.yahoo.com/russias-med...-business.html


EuFoA

What is your immediate reaction to the decision of Armenia to join the Customs Union?


Elmar Brok: I am very sorry for that. I discussed it with the Armenian president, too. We know that Armenia is under incredible pressure from Russia because of the difficult situation towards Azerbaijan and [the disputed territory of] Nagorno-Karabakh. There is all this pressure. A small country like Armenia was blackmailed to make such a decision. I feel very sorry because it is legally -- because of certain conditions -- not possible to be a full member both of the Customs Union and have an association agreement and free-trade-area agreement with the European Union.

RFE/RL: Do you think there is any chance that Armenia will change its mind in the run-up to Vilnius?

Brok: I hope so as we will talk to them. I had in the last years several discussions with the president, and because of this discussion with the Armenian president I can only imagine that this pressure by Russia has played a role in that. If we have chance to open that again...it is very much important that Nagorno-Karabakh should be solved in a way and [so] that such a small country can find a solution with Azerbaijan on that question in order to overcome the problems in the region. The European Union, which has not done it till now, should take much more interest in the solution of such a frozen conflict.

http://www.eufoa.org/newsroom/228/51

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

EU warns Russia over trade 'threats' to ex-Soviet bloc
12 September 2013

The European Commission has warned Russia that it is "unacceptable" to use threats against ex-Soviet states which are seeking closer ties with the EU.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24061556

Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to establish a future "Eurasian Union" - a trade bloc similar to the EU, but without the commitments to democratic values and open competition which are fundamental to EU membership.

Which is why it is illegal to..

I feel very sorry because it is legally -- because of certain conditions -- not possible to be a full member both of the Customs Union and have an association agreement and free-trade-area agreement with the European Union.

From post 5

And from the Syria thread.
Putin plays trump card in high-stakes Syria standoff

"If things work out with Syria, Russia will have very elegantly returned itself as an important player in the Middle East," he told AFP.

"If Syria starts to hide the weapons and so forth then Russia's reputation and its position will be at stake. It's a bold step on Russia's part but it can still win."

Which brings up something interesting in the side category....
Relaunching of the Mediterranean Union/1st summit of speakers of Parliaments
http://wedg.millenniumweekend.org/fo...ad.php?t=41097

You have to be committed to western values to join.

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

But Moscow wants to pull in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan as well and to transform it into an EU-type "Eurasian Union" in the coming years.

towards Russian hegemony... Putin said a while back that the breakup of the Russian Marxist empire was a

sad dreadful catastrophe

shows where he is coming from!!!
But then he was head of the KGB No one achieves that rank unless his hands are covered with blood...

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

Exactly Lewis.

Russia was trying to build a "union" based on it's ideology

Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to establish a future "Eurasian Union" - a trade bloc similar to the EU, but without the commitments to democratic values and open competition which are fundamental to EU membership

which is also why Syria North Korea and Iran are fighting the western ideology of the owo.

Even some of the countries that have aligned with Russia are having second thoughts. If Russia is isolated and unable to participate in the owo economy, Russia is toast.The vast majority have now accepted the inevitable of the owo economic system/ideology/theology.

PS
You can read it in Putin's op-ed piece. But it is backfiring in the US and is pushing the vote in congress and senate toward passing. Especially as Syria has set up terms that cannot be accepted in the ME by anyone as it is a win for Iran. Plus the WH knows Russia just placed itself in check.

This could be their(Russia, Iran etc. etc.) last chance. The weapon of oil is slipping away. The Russian economy is sliding downward and scrambling for the answers and investment.

Assad knows this is his last chance as well and could be quickly moving toward disaster when this falls apart.

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

Leaving strike on table, Kerry says Syrian words on arms deal ‘not enough’
http://www.timesofisrael.com/leaving...al-not-enough/

Taking the possibly of a strike off the table would like accepting Assad and the terms above re Russia, Iran, Syria and North Korea.

Assad says arms transfer will fail unless US removes military threat
http://www.timesofisrael.com/assad-s...cal-arms-deal/


And would leave Israel, the GCC to handle Assad, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran on their own.

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

Putin says Syria violence could hit ex-Soviet bloc

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned ex-Soviet allies on Monday that Islamist militancy fuelling the war in Syria could reach their countries, some of which have Muslim majorities.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...Name=worldNews

Post 3 from the thread..
http://wedg.millenniumweekend.org/fo...t=Russia+China

Al Qaeda leader urges restraint in first 'guidelines for jihad'

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has issued his first specific guidelines for jihad, urging restraint in attacking other Muslim sects and non-Muslims and in starting conflicts in countries where jihadis might find a safe base to promote their ideas.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...Name=worldNews

Although they are still calling for attacks this is definitely a step down. Are they becoming weaker and finding a need to adjust????

But the most fascinating and telling statement of all...

And in an apparent nod to those who say al Qaeda's focus on the United States weakens their battle against governments at home, he endorsed the right of militants to fight Russians in the Caucasus, Indians in Kashmir and Chinese in Xinjiang.

Once again shedding a little light on Russia and China right now.

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

Russia

But Brian Bremner in Bloomberg Businessweek argues that “beneath Putin’s swagger lies weaknesses at the core of the economy that threaten Russia’s future – and with it, his power base.” And, Mr. Bremner adds, “for that he can blame a familiar nemesis: the U.S.”

The threat to Mr. Putin comes from stiffer US competition for Russia’s key energy sector, which provides half of the revenue for Putin’s government. The prices Russia can get selling oil and gas have weakened as US energy production has soared. Key factors in the stronger US performance: growing use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing as well as projects slated to add 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to the nation’s annual production. The challenge for Putin,

http://news.yahoo.com/good-reads-put...175424382.html


From the Bloomberg article...

Since reclaiming the presidency in May 2012, Putin has become the biggest impediment to the Obama administration’s foreign policy aims. That’s undoubtedly played well with Russians yearning for the days when the country was a superpower. Yet beneath Putin’s swagger lie weaknesses at the core of the economy that threaten Russia’s future—and with it, his power base. And for that, he can blame a familiar nemesis: the U.S.

His difficulty has nothing to do with intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles—and everything to do with natural gas that’s cooled to -260F at normal pressure, condensed into liquid form, and transported on special tankers to markets around the world. America’s surprising return as an energy superpower is complicating life for the Russian petro state. The rise of a vibrant, global, and pipeline-free liquefied natural gas (LNG) market is a direct threat to Russia’s interests in Europe, where Gazprom (GAZP:RU), the state-owned energy giant, supplies about 25 percent of the gas. So is the shift in pricing power from suppliers to consumers as a result of the huge supply shock emanating from North America.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles...as-energy-boom

Putin can't blame global ills for Russia's economic crunch

Putin has in the past two years been abandoned by, forced out or become distant from the more liberal thinkers who once influenced him, leaving him politically isolated as his popularity wanes and the economy slides towards recession.

"I won't say that power is slipping from his hands but he is not as strong as he was," said a source once close to the Kremlin and the government. "At the start of the 2000s, he was a unifying figure. He is no longer that."

http://wedg.millenniumweekend.org/fo...ussian+economy

Russia's fractured society deepens Putin's woes
http://wedg.millenniumweekend.org/fo...ussian+economy

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

As Ukraine looks west to Europe, Russia's shadow looms

That's not what Moscow wants to hear, or will accept.

"What we have seen during the past few weeks is brutal Russian pressure against the partnership countries of a sort that we haven't seen in Europe for a very long time," said Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt last month, describing Moscow's actions as "economic warfare".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...99008920131001

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

Side note
Obama's bold trade plan faces resistance on Asia trip

But a U.S.-led trade pact - the most ambitious since the demise of the Doha round of global talks - has succeeded in uniting the great rivals in condemnation of what they see as a U.S. plot to impose its economic model on Asia.

But the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), by seeking unprecedented access to domestic markets, is proving highly sensitive in developing countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam, whose political systems could be shaken by intrusions in areas such as government procurement and state-owned enterprises.

The three-year-old talks, now involving 12 nations, are aimed at establishing a free-trade bloc that would stretch from Vietnam to Chile, encompassing 800 million people, about a third of world trade and nearly 40 percent of the global economy.

Former finance minister Anwar has called the TPP a secretive push for "modern-day American hegemony" while his nemesis Mahathir, a veteran opponent of globalization and U.S. dominance, denounced it as a threat to Malaysia's independence.

Such opposition has put pressure on Prime Minister Najib Razak to reassure the public that the government, which says the TPP will boost by 10 percent the amount of trade covered by preferential access, will fight for its interests.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...Name=worldNews

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

EU preparing to charge Gazprom in antitrust case

EU regulators are preparing to charge Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom with abusing its dominant position in central and eastern Europe, the EU's antitrust chief said on Thursday, in a move that could lead to a fine of up to $15 billion.
The European Commission's action against Gazprom is likely to ratchet up the tension between Europe and Russia, which has criticized EU attempts to boost energy market competition and end its over-reliance on Russian supplies.

http://news.yahoo.com/eu-preparing-c...--finance.html

Side note

UK's ex-PM Tony Blair to advise Albania's new govt in its efforts to join 28-nation EU
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/10...test+-+Text%29

Bulgaria still hopes to join border-free zone

Bulgarian foreign minister Kristian Vigenin said Wednesday that his country still hopes to join the border-free Schengen area despite a row with France over Roma migrants. "If the citizens of Roma origin pose problems, this is something that should be resolved in cooperation between the authorities," Vigenin said.

http://euobserver.com/tickers/121647

Schengen Area
The Schengen Area is a group of 26 European countries that have abolished passport and immigration controls at their common borders. It functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_area

Turkey questions its EU future as Brussels looks to Balkans

Several powerful EU states are reluctant to open the door to a large, mainly Muslim country, even a member of the NATO Western military alliance, fearing a troublesome integration whereas small countries have a track record of smooth accession.

"There is a real openness to enlargement to the Balkans and further east (in eastern Europe)," the official said, pointing out that "six or seven" countries in the region could ultimately become members, boosting the EU's total to 34 or 35 states.

"The Western Balkans are very close to Europe. But Turkey is qualitatively different for all sorts of reasons. It's an issue of geography, the fact that it is a Muslim country, the fact that public opinion in some member states is very strongly against it becoming a member."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...99203T20131003

Azerbaijan is one of the countries Russia thought it would have.

Azerbaijan and EU race to agree 'modernisation' pact

They say the pact will "promote political and economic reforms in Azerbaijan, support deep and comprehensive democracy, promote regional security and enhanced, sustainable economic growth and energy co-operation."

They also say the EU will make it easier for Azerbaijani nationals to visit Union countries

http://euobserver.com/foreign/121592

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Re: Moldova says will stick to pro-Europe course despite Russian pressure

EU warns Russia over Ukraine, Moldova pressure

http://news.yahoo.com/eu-warns-russi...144210890.html