Interview with Manuel Barroso
José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, in an interview with RT, voiced the position of the EU ruling body concerning relations between Russia, the U.S. and the EU.
Commenting on Russia-U.S. dispute over anti-missile defence shield that the United States are planning to deploy in Europe, Manuel Barroso said, “What we think is that this has to be explained between the U.S. and Russia. Of course, there is a sovereign right for any country to decide about the installations the country wants to have or to keep and we have to accept that. At the same time, we are asking our American friends and partners to discuss the issue openly with Russia.”
The President of the European Commission highlighted that, “it makes no sense to have targets against each other in the 21st century, and I believe it is not the case. We shouldn’t be a target for each other.” He went on to say, “The real targets are climate change and poverty. What we expect from Russia is Russia’s being a constructive partner and working with us to fight the global problems. These are the real problems – poverty in the world, climate change –a threat to our planet. So we shouldn’t be creating artificial problems now, but we should concentrate on the real issues in a spirit of co-operation.”
Also, Mr Barroso says all G8 members, who are holding a summit in the German resort of Heiligendamm, are keen to work closely with Russia. “We really want to have good constructive relations with Russia,” he outlined.
“It is true that there were some discussions about some specific problems. And, so, let’s be open. If there is a problem we have to assume it is there. We cannot pretend it doesn’t exist. In Samara, together with Chancellor Merkel, I discussed these issues with President Putin in a very frank and open way,” Manuel Barroso explained.
“We are now working to overcome those difficulties, because we believe that Russia is a very important strategic partner for the European Union, because Russia is a European country, a very important European country. And we want to have good constructive relations with Russia,” Mr Barroso concluded.
