Putin and the ‘old man’ spoil Lahti summit

Vladimir Putin’s tense dinner with EU leaders in Lahti on 20 October had the merit of being a reality check for both the capacity of EU member states to formulate and deliver a common message to Russia and the Russian president’s openness to dialogue with the EU.

If the formulation of the EU message, spearheaded by the Finnish presidency of the EU, was carried through in a professional fashion, the delivery was more cacophonic and Putin’s receptiveness to European concerns about the state of democracy in Russia was as low as ever.

The Russian president was given an easy ride in Lahti, despite Finland’s best efforts, and he was as defiant as ever. Putin could, like always, count on the dissident voices of some EU leaders, such as the French President Jacques Chirac, who never fail to support him, flying in the face of agreed EU common positions or common sense political approaches.

The soundbite of the summit came from Chirac, who said that morality should not be mixed up with business. "There is trade, on one hand, and then there are human rights. They should be treated separately," Chirac said just before the dinner with Putin, giving a blow to the Finnish presidency’s strategy of getting tougher with Russia over human rights and democratisation.

And after several EU government leaders, in particular from the new member states, had raised questions over the Putin regime’s human rights credentials and the military build up between Russia and Georgia, Chirac came unnecessarily to Putin’s help, complaining that too much noise was being made about the Georgian issue. Unnecessarily, because Putin defended himself very effectively.

He rebuked criticism, pointing out that the situation in his critics’ countries was not better than in Russia. "His attitude was ‘you have no lessons to teach me’," said one government leader. "‘The situation is no better in your countries, so give me a break’."

"He won’t be told," said another participant to the summit. "It was not a nice dinner, in fact it was quite tense. And the chemistry between him and most EU leaders is pretty telling: he talks to the big [member states’ leaders] and either despises or ignores the rest."

After the President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell told him that one cannot trade energy for human rights and that although the EU took oil from even worse regimes than Russia, it was more preoccupied about the situation in Russia because it was a strategic partner, Putin retorted that corruption was rife in Spain, Borrell’s homeland. "Why are there so many mayors of Spanish cities in jail?" Putin asked, according to a participant at the summit.

He went on to say that Mafia was an Italian word, not a Russian one, and that there was a reason for that. Putin also criticised the situation of the Russian minorities in the Baltic states.

"It was tense, sometimes unpleasant, but more sincere than normally," one government leader commented.

But Chirac was not the only helper Putin used to break a tentative united EU front. The other important, though more subtle, ally was the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Putin went to Germany to see Merkel just ten days before the Lahti summit. Merkel met Putin in Dresden to discuss what deals could be done between the two countries. Germany, Russia’s largest trading partner, is preparing to take over the presidency of both the EU and the G8 group of industrialised nations next year, giving it a leading role in shaping western policy towards Russia.

While the German press reported that Merkel was still tough on Putin on human rights and expressed shock at the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaja, Russia’s energy offers to Germany may still outweigh Berlin’s concerns over the state of democracy under Putin and Germany could close its eyes to certain sins of Putin’s regime. During his visit, the Russian leader offered to make Germany a key player in Europe’s energy distribution market.

He offered to route gas supplies from Shtokman, the world’s largest gas field, to Europe through Germany, snubbing the United States. "From being a major consumer of Russian energy products, Germany can become a major centre for their distribution. The German economy has an interest in this," Putin said after the talks on 10 October.

Major deals have also been signed during Putin’s visit to Germany. German electronics giant Siemens announced it had struck a deal worth €450 million with Russian holding Renova to carry out infrastructure projects in Russia.

And although Merkel did not support Putin at the summit in Chirac’s strident way, many EU officials mutter that by accepting to meet the Russian president separately before the EU gathering, Merkel allowed herself to be bought by Putin and undermined her claims that she wanted a common EU energy policy.

But while Chirac and Merkel proved, in different ways, to be the weak links of a balanced EU common front towards Russia, the Union’s newest member states demonstrated at the summit that they have developed a more mature approach towards Russia. While their behaviour with Moscow, with which they have had a difficult relationship throughout history, was strident and emotional when they joined the EU in 2004, it has now become more balanced and sophisticated. They made sure that their concerns about democratisation and a level playing field will be incorporated into the common EU message and toned down their own criticism of the Kremlin. This summit was the first time the newest and the older EU member states gave, broadly and jointly, a balanced message to Russia - with the only dissonant voice being Chirac’s.

But according to a participant to the summit, there is hope for the future, since the summit also showed that Chirac’s influence at the EU’s top table was fading distinctly. "While all eyes are on Angela Merkel, Chirac is a tired old man…with a tad of hysteria in his voice," he said.

Vladimir Putin’s tense dinner with EU leaders in Lahti on 20 October had the merit of being a reality check for both the capacity of EU member states to formulate and deliver a common message to Russia and the Russian president’s openness to dialogue with the EU.