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Scott, Antonella
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3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Medvedev falls short of his goals at EU-Russia summit
The hopes of Kremlin boss Dmitry Medvedev that he would secure visa exemption for his country at the EU-Russia summit in Rostov-on-Don have been dashed. Brussels is primarily interested in improving economic ties with Moscow, the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore concludes: "The Kremlin's goal of modernisation and the scrapping of visa requirements were too ambitious for the summit. Economic ties between Russia and the EU were revived thanks to a partnership for modernisation agreement signed in Rostov. But Moscow is in a hurry to secure visa-free travel for Russians. The Europeans, on the other hand, are afraid of this. They want to tighten controls on the borders of the former Soviet republics, introduce biometric passports and only ease the obligation to register with the authorities for Europeans living and working in Russia for the time being. But modernisation is also achieved through visa-free travel and Medvedev hopes to give the initiative fresh impetus with a proposal he put to the partners: the scrapping of visas for short visits, as was done in 2008 for the football Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea in Moscow."
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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Russia, » Europe
New tensions in the Caucasus
A year after the outbreak of the Russian-Georgian war over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia new tensions have emerged, the business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore writes: "Accusing the Georgians of having bombarded South Ossetia's capital with grenades yesterday [Tuesday] the Russians have gone on high alert and given carte blanche for the military operations that the political leader of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, has defined as preventative. … But … further up north a new threat is taking shape which won't go away when the [one-year] deadline expires in August: The North Caucasus … is slowly but surely returning to the edge of the abyss. … The central thread (between several episodes) is the resumption of the rebellion against the central and local authorities. This is a movement that is defined as Islamic and which moved beyond the borders after it was crushed in Chechnya. But now it is gaining ground in the land of [Ramzan] Kadyrov [Chechnya] and profiting from Moscow's decision to end anti-terrorist operations in April."
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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Russia, » Georgian Republic
A shadowy detente
The business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore sees Moscow's readiness to forgo stationing Iskander missiles as the first step in a rapprochement with the US that could also effect relations with Iran and Afghanistan: "Now that a new chapter could begin in relations between the US and Iran, Russia is quick to act. In putting missile defence on the back burner, the Kremlin could cooperate with the White House in convincing Tehran to set aside its nuclear programme. And it could stop selling weapons to Iran, which would speed detente and foster dialogue in other parts of the globe. Russia has already signalled its readiness to open a supply channel for Nato troops in Afghanistan, which would be more secure than the route through Pakistan. All of this is certainly possible with the rapprochement, but the price is high. On Russia's southern flank the Nato posts in Ukraine and Georgia would have to remain closed. If this is what a detente means, it will have a shadowy side."
» full article (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Russia, » U.S.
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