Russia sceptical of Czech EU presidency beforehand

Moscow, Dec 21 (ČTK) - Moscow has made its opinion about the Czech EU
presidency clear by the fact that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
has left out his usual visit and did not arrive in Prague ahead of the
start of its presidency.

The Russian press and analysts are rather sceptical about EU-Russia
relations under the Czech baton in the first half of 2009.

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Russian lower house's foreign
committee, recently said the forthcoming Czech presidency raises concern in
big EU states, mainly where it comes to Prague's approach to its role of an
organiser during the present financial crisis.

The daily Izvestiya, widely considered close to the Kremlin, has divided
the EU states into four groups according to their "Russophobia" level. It
has not included the Czech Republic among the biggest critics such as
Poland, the Baltic states, Britain and Sweden, but has included it in the
group of "moderate critics."

Unlike Warsaw, in Prague the opposition to Russia is not the main point in
its policy, the paper wrote.

The financial daily Kommersant, on its part, has warned that Moscow could
get irritated by the "eastern partnership" as one of the Czech EU
presidency's priorities.

The idea of actively bring Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Belarus closer to the EU is viewed as an effort to divert these
post-Soviet republics from Russia, Kommersant wrote.

"Moscow, to which the EU's eastern policy has been oriented to a large
extent so far (mainly under the presidencies of Germany and France), will
under the Czech presidency actually thrown overboard of the EU's foreign
policy aimed eastwards," the paper wrote.

Russian analysts addressed by ČTK have agreed that it would be far from
easy for Prague to take up EU presidency after France. Prague, in its
relations to Russia, will bear the burden of the post-communist past and of
the current plan to have a US military radar base built on Czech soil,
the analysts said.

Mikhail Delyagin, head of Moscow's Institute for globalisation problems
told ČTK he fears that Czech-Russian relations might become "ideologised"
when concrete problems start to be solved during Czech EU presidency.

Only time will show whether Czech politicians will succumb to the
temptation to play the historical card like Poland and the Baltic states
do, or whether they will prefer seeking "concrete pragmatic results" within
the thesis that the EU has not only values but also interests, Delyagin
said.

According to Sergei Rogov, had of the Moscow Institute for the USA and
Canada, Prague is able to successfully develop its relations with Russia.
In the Russia-Georgia conflict this summer it behaved more reservedly than
Poland, the Baltic states and Ukraine, Rogov pointed out.

A trouble might arise in connection with the planned US radar base which
Russian views as the biggest threat to its security, Rogov added.

"Starting points are not good but the expectations are not high either,"
said an EU diplomat, who requested anonymity, but added that the final
result, including in relation to Russia, may be the better thanks to Czech
pragmatism.