RUSSIA - Jan. 10 - Moscow Wants Say On EU Eastward Expansion.

Moscow is seeking a bigger say on the implications of European Union membership for former Soviet block countries from central and eastern Europe. Western diplomats describe Russian thinking on the issue as in its early stages. But the EU will strongly resist any pressure to give Russia any negotiating status in talks between the EU and candidate countries. Any concessions to Russia would alarm the candidate countries, since it could mean further demands and further delays. The EU says the first new countries, which began negotiating in 1998, might join in 2003. (Most of the countries wanting to join the EU were once satellites or members of the Soviet Union. Russia is less worried by EU enlargement than it is by possible NATO enlargement in the same region. But it enjoys close trade relations with many of the candidate countries and relatively easy visa regimes. Enlargement could damage these ties). Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Ivanov told the Financial Times on Jan.9 that the EU already promised Moscow "official consultations" on enlargement issues. But this was "not exactly an institutional" arrangement, he said. It was "premature" to say what sort of "legal format" it might imply. He said in the Russian view, EU enlargement was "not 100% positive, not 100% negative". (Until last year, a timetable for enlargement had seemed vague and distant. But the EU's Nice summit last month cleared away the main constitutional obstacles, allowing the EU to talk much more confidently about setting dates. This has brought a new sense of urgency to EU-Russia relations. "We must use this period of Russian recovery to build a much closer relationship with the European Union", Swedish PM Goran Persson said on Jan. 8. Sweden holds the EU presidency for the first half of 2001. On Jan. 22 Sweden is due to publish a "work plan" for EU relations with Russia during its presidency. It will include inviting Russian ministers, such as finance and transport ministers, to meetings with their EU counterparts. Russia is identifying now several issues and interests relating to EU enlargement in which it wants to have a say. The most difficult issue is probably that of Kaliningrad, an isolated province of Russia on the Baltic coast bordered by Poland and Lithuania, both candidates for EU membership. In the case of Kaliningrad, Moscow would like residents there to retain their freedom to travel with relative ease and without visas to Poland and Lithuania. But this freedom will be jeopardised by the accession of these countries to the EU's strict Schengen visa regime. Moscow worries about transit arrangements between Kaliningrad to the rest of Russia. It also worries about potential disruption to energy supplies if Lithuania ceases its use of the old Soviet electricity grid that supplies the region. Kaliningrad's neighbours worry about the spillover of social problems, including the high rates of tuberculosis and HIV infection. EU officials may propose including additional aid to the region. Talks on Kaliningrad may be hampered by divisions of opinion within the Russian administration. Some officials want to use Kaliningrad as a pilot zone for enhanced relations with the EU. Others are concerned more with enforcing equality among Russian regions, which would rule out any special treatment for Kaliningrad. The military and strategic aspects of Kaliningrad have also achieved new prominence with the election of Admiral Vladimir Yegorov, commander of the Baltic Fleet, as governor last November. Last week the US government tentatively endorsed media reports - denied by the Russians - that tactical nuclear missiles had been moved there last year).