Poland flexes its muscles over Russia deal – and irritates rest of EU

The odds of the EU beginning talks with Russia on a new strategic agreement at a summit next week shortened dramatically on 15 November after Poland once again refused to approve the opening of talks.

During a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels, Poland said that Russia must lift its import ban on Polish meat before Warsaw approves the Commission’s mandate to negotiate with Russia.

Although there is still hope that a deal can be done in time for the summit in Helsinki on 24 November, one Polish diplomat said his "optimism was going".

Poland has taken a tough line, calling on Russia to name a date when it will lift the year-old ban on meat imports.

"We need a guarantee not a promise; we need an exact date for lifting the ban," said the Polish diplomat. "We want to bind the hands of the Commission and make sure that these things stay on the agenda."

But Poland’s strategy has not gone down well with other member states, which are furious that the new agreement with Russia is being held hostage to a bilateral trade dispute.

"It is difficult to see where they are going with this," said one EU diplomat.

Commission officials expressed concern that Poland may also attempt to block Russia’s membership of the World Trade Organization.

Poland has also called on the EU to demand that Russia enforce the energy charter treaty, which would make it easier to use Russian pipelines to transport non-Russian gas and oil. According to Pawe? Swieboda, former head of EU policy at the Polish ministry of foreign affairs, Poland is justified in being upset about the meat ban, but has picked "the wrong battle". "One needs to use persuasion rather than vetoing the mandate - something which is of interest and strategic importance to the European Union at large."

The EU now has two more opportunities to reach a deal on the Commission’s mandate, as agriculture ministers meeting on Monday (20 November) and energy ministers who meet on Thursday (23 November) could both, in theory, approve a deal.

One official said that both sides would need a face-saving way out. An EU declaration promising to address the issue may be one possible solution.

In a statement on Tuesday (14 November), Mikhail Kamynin, spokesman for Russia’s foreign affairs ministry, described Poland’s veto as "bewildering".

The odds of the EU beginning talks with Russia on a new strategic agreement at a summit next week shortened dramatically on 15 November after Poland once again refused to approve the opening of talks.