MOSCOW, Oct 23: A top European Union official on Monday called for a thorough and objective probe into the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, underlining the bloc’s call at talks last week for Moscow to improve press freedom.
European External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner also said on a visit to Moscow the EU was “really concerned by the escalating tensions” between Russia and its ex-Soviet neighbour Georgia.
Diplomats said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talks with EU leaders in Finland on Friday were constructive on energy cooperation, but tense on human rights and Russian sanctions on Georgia.
Ferrero-Waldner said the bloc was worried about Russia’s implementation of “shared European values”.
“The murder of Anna Politkovskaya, who for many in Europe was a model of courageous journalistic investigation in the public interest, has shocked us,” she told students at Moscow’s State Institute for International Affairs.
“Guarantees of media freedom are essential for a healthy society. Independent media play a vital role in holding the executive and others to account.”
“We hope the investigation into the murder of this fearless and respected person is both thorough and objective and justice will be seen to be done,” said Ferrero-Waldner.
Critics of the Kremlin said Politkovskaya’s shooting showed free speech was unprotected in Russia. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met the journalist’s son and colleagues on a visit to Moscow on Saturday.
Russia’s hostile relations with its tiny Caucasus neighbour Georgia are another irritant in Moscow’s ties with the EU.
The Kremlin severed transport links with its neighbour and deported hundreds of Georgians living in Russia after Georgia briefly arrested four Russian army officers for spying.
The EU said at the weekend it was trying to mediate between Russia and Georgia to calm tension.
But in a sign Moscow had no intention of softening its stance, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a group of European businessmen on Monday that Russia had no plans to re-open air links with Georgia “for the time being”.
TENSE TALKS: Mr Putin met EU leaders over dinner late on Friday in the Finnish town of Lahti. EU diplomats said the mood turned tense when the leaders of Poland, Latvia and Denmark raised human rights issues and the harassment of Georgians in Russia.
Mr Putin retorted by saying the governments of the three ex-Soviet Baltic states treated Russians living on their soil as non-persons, the diplomats said.
On energy, diplomats said Putin appeared to accept the principle that a set of rules on energy cooperation should be included in a new framework EU-Russia agreement. Formal negotiations on that accord are to start next month.—Reuters
