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ARMENIA SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH IRAN ON GAS-PIPELINE PLAN. Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian signed a bilateral agreement with visiting Iranian Oil and Gas Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Yerevan on 13 May, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau and Armenpress reported. The agreement caps nearly a dozen years of negotiations between the two countries and follows an announcement by the Armenian government on 1 April heralding a final agreement on all outstanding issues (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 April 2004). Initially estimated at a cost of roughly $140 million, the 140-kilometer pipeline will reduce the Armenian dependence on Russian gas supplies by providing gas from diversified suppliers, although Russian energy giant Gazprom might acquire operational control of the Armenian portion of the pipeline. Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, on a state visit to Kyiv, has also initiated negotiations with the Ukrainian government, seeking their participation in the project. RG
50 HIV CASES IN TAJIK PRISONS. A recent study of HIV cases in Tajik prisons discovered 52 HIV-positive prisoners in three penal colonies, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 12 May. Twelve of the 52 prisoners are women. The project, which focused on the prevention of AIDS in prisons, was carried out by the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation (OSIAF) and Tajikistan's Justice Ministry with USAID financial assistance. Project coordinator Mahmud Majidov noted that research in Belarus and Ukraine has shown that keeping HIV-infected inmates in one place leads to outbreaks of the infection. Zuhro Halimova, the executive director of OSIAF, said, "We need to switch to preventive measures of fighting the disease. We should not repeat the sad fate of African countries." DK
The European Commission on 12 May made public a strategy document outlining ways of building closer ties between the EU and its "new neighbors" to the east and south. The paper -- which must still be formally approved at the EU's summit in June -- says the bloc is ready to proceed quickly with Ukraine, Moldova, and a number of Mediterranean countries. It also sees no hope of a closer relationship for Belarus as long as its present government stays in power.
The commission paper builds on a concept first unveiled nearly a year ago. Although it has undergone some changes, the premise of the strategy remains that those neighbors willing to share EU values and respect its vital interests will be offered closer links.
Presenting the paper on 12 May, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen promised political dialogue, economic cooperation, and possible eventual integration, as well as wide-ranging aid for infrastructure projects, research, environmental projects, and the like under the so-called European Neighborhood Policy.
Verheugen summed up the EU's goals as follows: "The final objective is very clear. As [Commission President] Romano Prodi has put it earlier, we want to create a 'ring of friends.' We want to create a neighborhood in which we can develop the same level of political and economic stability that we have already achieved in the enlarged European Union. This is strategically in our interest, and we believe it is also in the interest of all our neighbors."
The paper envisages "actions plans" for the quick development of ties with seven front-runners -- Ukraine, Moldova, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia.
The European Commission says the seven were picked because they already have in place functioning partnership agreements with the EU.
The action plans will be made public in early July, presumably after the EU's June summit gives the commission strategy its formal approval. Officials say no changes are expected from the current wording.
One country conspicuous in its absence from EU ambitions for closer ties is Belarus. Verheugen said that country's authoritarian leadership has itself to blame for its "isolation."
"The picture is -- I regret to say that -- very gloomy. So far, we don't have cooperation with the government of that country. We don't have contractual relations. There is no dialogue at all. And I think in the present situation there is no way to discuss with Belarus an action plan," Verheugen said. "We are still at square number one. What we have to do is to support initiatives which would finally lead to political reform and political change in Belarus."
The EU does not have many options. Verheugen said the bloc is trying to help democratic forces in Belarusian civil society find their voice and become more visible. Verheugen said he remains "absolutely without illusions." However, he added, once the "conditions are right," Belarus will be welcomed as a partner country in the EU's new neighborhood project.
Verheugen also rejected suggestions that the Polish government does not support the commission's tough stance vis-a-vis neighboring Belarus. He said the commission is in constant contact with Warsaw and that "there is no contradiction."
Russia will not receive its own action plan in July, but Verheugen said this is simply because the EU-Russia relationship has already developed substantially.
Verheugen also said the commission supports the inclusion of the three South Caucasus countries in the new neighbors initiative.
"Furthermore, and that is new, we suggest in our strategy paper of today that the countries of the Southern Caucasus -- Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia -- should be included," Verheugen said. "This is in the view of the commission a necessary and important reaction addressing recent developments in that part of Europe and responding to the clear request which we have got from the leaders of those countries."
The commissioner, however, poured cold water on the ambitions of the leaders of EU partner countries who have hoped the new neighborhood program could be a stepping-stone toward accession.
Verheugen appeared to contradict suggestions made in recent years by Prodi and other senior EU officials that once the present round of enlargement is over, a further debate on the "borders of Europe" will follow. This debate is necessary to decide which countries have a right to membership, as the bloc's founding treaty stipulates all "European countries" can join.
Verheugen ruled out such a debate for the foreseeable future, however, saying the EU does not "foresee a debate about the borders of Europe." He added: "For the time being, what we can do is we can clearly define the borders of the European Union. For the time being, it is obvious that for a relatively long time to come, the western border of the former Soviet Union will be the eastern border of the European Union, with the exception of the Baltic countries, which are already members of the EU."
He said the Balkan countries, headed by Croatia, will all be absorbed.
Verheugen said Turkey's ambitions are well known, too, and its membership remains possible. The commission will decide in the fall whether to launch accession talks with Ankara.
Ahto Lobjakas is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Brussels.
MINSK SEES 'POLITICAL COMPONENT' IN EXCLUDING BELARUS FROM EU NEIGHBORHOOD. Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Savinykh said on 13 May that there is a "political component" to the EU's approach to the formation of an individual neighborhood concept for Belarus, Belapan reported. Savinykh was commenting on the EU's European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), which was unveiled the previous day (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 May 2004). The document says that Belarus will be able to make full use of the ENP only "when it has established a democratic form of government, following free and fair elections." The European Commission proposed that EU assistance to Belarus be strengthened in areas such as civil society, democratization, the independent media, humanitarian assistance, regional cooperation, and the alleviation of problems in the regions affected by the Chornobyl disaster. JM
BELARUSIAN LEGISLATURE RATIFIES ACCORD ON DRUZHBA-ADRIA OIL-PIPELINE LINK. The Chamber of Representatives on 13 May ratified an agreement providing for linking the Druzhba and Adria oil pipelines, Belapan reported. The agreement -- signed by Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine in December 2002 in Zagreb -- provides for the integration of the national oil pipelines to connect Russian oil fields with the Adriatic Sea. The new oil route is expected to transport up to 15 million tons of crude oil annually. JM
UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER BECOMES ACADEMICIAN... Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has become a member of the Presidium of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences (NANU), Interfax reported on 13 May, quoting the government press service. NANU head Borys Paton reportedly wrote in a letter to Yanukovych that the NANU made him a Presidium member in order to "strengthen cooperation with state-authority bodies." JM
TWO UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS MERGE. The deputy groups Democratic Initiatives and People's Power have merged to form a caucus called Democratic Initiatives-People's Power, the "Ukrayinska pravda" website (http://www2.pravda.com.ua) reported on 14 May, quoting Verkhovna Rada speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn. The newly established caucus has 30 deputies. Lytvyn also said the pro-government caucus Ukraine's Regions expelled three deputies who on 12 May supported the opposition-sponsored resolution on the controversial mayoral election in Mukacheve (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 May 2004). JM
ROMANIA SAYS UKRAINIAN CANAL PROJECT WILL DAMAGE DANUBE DELTA. Romania has appealed to the secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) to protest Ukraine's beginning of construction on 11 May of a deep-water canal near the Romania-Ukraine border, Mediafax reported, citing a 13 May Foreign Ministry press release. Romania and environmental organizations fear that 163-kilometer canal, which will run through the Bystraya estuary and provide Ukraine with an additional outlet to the Black Sea, will damage Europe's largest delta, the Danube Delta, international media reported. The Bern Convention has announced that it intends to organize a field trip to investigate the situation by July. The delta is an internationally protected nature reserve. ZsM
The European Commission on 12 May made public a strategy document outlining ways of building closer ties between the EU and its "new neighbors" to the east and south. The paper -- which must still be formally approved at the EU's summit in June -- says the bloc is ready to proceed quickly with Ukraine, Moldova, and a number of Mediterranean countries. It also sees no hope of a closer relationship for Belarus as long as its present government stays in power.
The commission paper builds on a concept first unveiled nearly a year ago. Although it has undergone some changes, the premise of the strategy remains that those neighbors willing to share EU values and respect its vital interests will be offered closer links.
Presenting the paper on 12 May, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen promised political dialogue, economic cooperation, and possible eventual integration, as well as wide-ranging aid for infrastructure projects, research, environmental projects, and the like under the so-called European Neighborhood Policy.
Verheugen summed up the EU's goals as follows: "The final objective is very clear. As [Commission President] Romano Prodi has put it earlier, we want to create a 'ring of friends.' We want to create a neighborhood in which we can develop the same level of political and economic stability that we have already achieved in the enlarged European Union. This is strategically in our interest, and we believe it is also in the interest of all our neighbors."
The paper envisages "actions plans" for the quick development of ties with seven front-runners -- Ukraine, Moldova, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia.
The European Commission says the seven were picked because they already have in place functioning partnership agreements with the EU.
The action plans will be made public in early July, presumably after the EU's June summit gives the commission strategy its formal approval. Officials say no changes are expected from the current wording.
One country conspicuous in its absence from EU ambitions for closer ties is Belarus. Verheugen said that country's authoritarian leadership has itself to blame for its "isolation."
"The picture is -- I regret to say that -- very gloomy. So far, we don't have cooperation with the government of that country. We don't have contractual relations. There is no dialogue at all. And I think in the present situation there is no way to discuss with Belarus an action plan," Verheugen said. "We are still at square number one. What we have to do is to support initiatives which would finally lead to political reform and political change in Belarus."
The EU does not have many options. Verheugen said the bloc is trying to help democratic forces in Belarusian civil society find their voice and become more visible. Verheugen said he remains "absolutely without illusions." However, he added, once the "conditions are right," Belarus will be welcomed as a partner country in the EU's new neighborhood project.
Verheugen also rejected suggestions that the Polish government does not support the commission's tough stance vis-a-vis neighboring Belarus. He said the commission is in constant contact with Warsaw and that "there is no contradiction."
Russia will not receive its own action plan in July, but Verheugen said this is simply because the EU-Russia relationship has already developed substantially.
Verheugen also said the commission supports the inclusion of the three South Caucasus countries in the new neighbors initiative.
"Furthermore, and that is new, we suggest in our strategy paper of today that the countries of the Southern Caucasus -- Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia -- should be included," Verheugen said. "This is in the view of the commission a necessary and important reaction addressing recent developments in that part of Europe and responding to the clear request which we have got from the leaders of those countries."
The commissioner, however, poured cold water on the ambitions of the leaders of EU partner countries who have hoped the new neighborhood program could be a stepping-stone toward accession.
Verheugen appeared to contradict suggestions made in recent years by Prodi and other senior EU officials that once the present round of enlargement is over, a further debate on the "borders of Europe" will follow. This debate is necessary to decide which countries have a right to membership, as the bloc's founding treaty stipulates all "European countries" can join.
Verheugen ruled out such a debate for the foreseeable future, however, saying the EU does not "foresee a debate about the borders of Europe." He added: "For the time being, what we can do is we can clearly define the borders of the European Union. For the time being, it is obvious that for a relatively long time to come, the western border of the former Soviet Union will be the eastern border of the European Union, with the exception of the Baltic countries, which are already members of the EU."
He said the Balkan countries, headed by Croatia, will all be absorbed.
Verheugen said Turkey's ambitions are well known, too, and its membership remains possible. The commission will decide in the fall whether to launch accession talks with Ankara.
Ahto Lobjakas is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Brussels.