Sarkozy and Merkel call emergency EU summit over Georgia on September 1

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-25 09:49:36

PARIS, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) --

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), Sunday called for an emergency summit of the bloc on Sept. 1to discuss the crisis in Georgia.

President Sarkozy had called for the summit, which will take place in Brussels, at the request of various European countries, the president's office said in a statement.

"This meeting will be dedicated to the Georgian crisis, notably to the positions the European Union intends to adopt, including aid for Georgia and future relations with Russia," said the statement.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has said Russia completed its troop withdrawal from Georgia Friday.

The United States and France, however, Friday criticized Russia for not complying with a France-brokered ceasefire agreement with Georgia.

Moscow sent in troops following Georgia's attacks on South Ossetia on Aug. 7 in an attempt to regain control of the breakaway region, which borders Russia.

South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s. However, its independence has not been internationally recognized.

Editor: An Lu

German chancellor proposes "neighborhood conference" for Georgia

www.chinaview.cn 2008-08-24 04:25:24

BERLIN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) --

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has proposed that European Union (EU) presidency France organize a "neighborhood conference" to resolve economic difficulties for Georgia, German government spokesman Thomas Steg said on Saturday.

"This is solely a conference aimed at supporting and strengthening Georgia in economic terms," Steg was quoted as saying by German news agency DPA.

The spokesman said the Caucasus Summit, or "neighborhood conference" in the EU's jargon, is not a conference "aimed at finding a political solution to the conflict."

Apart from EU member states, Merkel proposed that countries neighboring Georgia like Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan should be invited to participate in the meeting.

The proposal had been forwarded to France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and it is up to France to decide.

On Monday, Merkel is to start a tour of Sweden and the Baltic states, aiming to seek common EU response to the Georgia crisis.

Editor: Yan

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.