Sarkozy wants new EU-US-Russia security accord

VALENTINA POP

14.11.2008 @ 18:04 CET

With Russia's backing for the G20 summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a new security and defence arrangement between the EU, Russia and the US to be agreed at a summit mid-2009, calling both on Moscow and Washington to refrain from deploying missiles until that date.

Mr Sarkozy was speaking at a press conference on Friday (14 November) following the EU-Russia summit held in Nice, alongside his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.

President Dmitri Medvedev got French support on security and defence matters, despite not having fully complied with the ceasefire agreement in Georgia (Photo: Kremlin.ru)

"As acting EU council president I propose that mid-2009 we gather for instance within the OSCE [Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe] to lay the basis of what might be a future EU security arrangement ...which would of course involve the Russians and the Americans," Mr Sarkozy said, backing an idea originally proposed by his Russian counterpart.

He also expressed his "preoccupation" with Mr Medvedev's threat to deploy short-range missiles in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, on the shores of the Baltic Sea, bordering Poland and Lithuania.

"There shouldn't be any deployment in any enclave until we have not discussed the new geopolitical conditions of a pan-European security arrangement," he told Russia, while also calling on the US to "stop talking" about the missile defence shield which "only complicates things."

Mr Sarkozy seemed to be offering his role "as a potential mediator in Russian-American relations," AFP commented.

Mr Medvedev had threatened on 5 November to deploy short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad if the Americans install their anti-ballistic missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russian-EU entente for G20 summit

Mr Medvedev backed EU proposals for the G20 summit to be held in Washington on Saturday (15 November), calling them "almost identical" with his. The Russian president said he was backing a deep reform of the international financial system, as well as a second financial summit at end of February, after the new US president Barack Obama takes office.

Mr Sarkozy called the Russian financial and economic proposals "of very good quality" and "very close to the EU proposals."

"And I'm very satisfied to see that there is a will on the part of the Russian federation for strong decisions to come out of the Washington summit," he added.

Georgia hardly mentioned

The Russian-Georgian war was portrayed as a somewhat closed affair, with Mr Sarkozy congratulating himself and his team for having brokered the ceasefire agreement, calling for "diplomatic solutions" in the region through negotiations in Geneva and criticising "some prominent leaders" who were against him going to Moscow in August and were now against resuming EU-Russia partnership treaty talks.

He asked the Russians "to make progress" in their withdrawal from Georgia, especially the Akhalgori region within the South Ossetia region and the Perevi village, located just outside in Georgia proper. But he estimated that the Russians fulfilled "the essential part of their agreements."

For his part, Mr Medvedev rejected the idea of not having fully complied with the cease fire agreements, pointing that "the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is our final decision. It is irrevocable."

Mr Medvedev also rejected the EU's accusation that the Russian use of force in Georgia was disproportionate. He said Moscow's military intervention was "limited, necessary and in accordance with international law."

EU-Russia talks to resume on 2 December

The negotiations between Russia and the EU on a strategic partnership agreement, suspended after the Georgian crisis will be resumed on 2 December, a spokeswoman for the European commission told AFP.

The EU and Russian leaders gathered in Nice "agreed to retake negotiations on 2 December," said Christianne Hohman, spokeswoman for external relations.

She added that the December meeting would be at a technical level, between the heads of the negotiating teams.

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Change has come not only to America

History will remember Barack Obama for the change he personifies.

As America's first black president he will write a new chapter in a long story that began in slavery and persecution and has not yet ended in equality.

But he is determined that history will remember him as an agent of change, not just as a symbol of it, and that will not be easy.

            (Click to watch video)

Mr Obama has been a brilliant candidate in many ways - the muscular poetry of his oratory is matched by his flair for the nuts and bolts of campaign organisation.

But he has been lucky too.

Even the banking crisis, which called into question the competence of Republican economic stewardship, came helpfully at a moment when he and John McCain were neck and neck in the polls.

He has not been lucky though in the circumstances which greet him as he takes office.

Funding the promises

The economy is in recession and the US, at war on two fronts overseas, faces profound questions that will require quick answers.

Mr Obama though will have at least one asset no other American president since Kennedy has enjoyed - a huge reservoir of international goodwill.

That is based partly on the simple fact that he is not George W Bush and partly on the widely-held belief that in picking a black president the United States is somehow closing one of the darker chapters in its own past.

It is not clear of course how deep that reservoir might be nor how long it will last - and it will not help much with the most pressing problem of all, which is what to do about the US economy.

Mr Obama has promised a tax cut to 95% of Americans and plenty of other things that will cost money too - like better access to health care for the 45 million people here without insurance, and an army of new teachers, with improved salaries, for the school system.

None of that will be cheap - and Mr Obama is inheriting a budget deficit running into hundreds of billions a year and a national debt which is about to go above the $11 trillion (£6.9 trillion) mark.

Whether or not Mr Obama is able to keep his campaign promises, he will be drawing heavily on his extraordinary gift for communication - expect that to be one of the hallmarks of his time in office.

Post-partisan

He is a gifted speaker and in times of national grief or doubt it is hugely important for Americans to have a president able to capture, shape and occasionally lift the national mood.

Those gifts will be equally important if President Obama finds himself in the depths of recession having to explain why campaign promises are being deferred or even dumped.

Obama has inspired great hope and high expectations in many black voters

How that goes down with the American people will depend on how successfully Mr Obama manages another of his campaign promises - the rather nebulous goal of bringing Americans together.

The new president sees himself as an essentially post-partisan figure and his rhetoric is filled with urgent talk of bringing together a fractured society so that young and old, black and white, rich and poor, and gay and straight all work together with a sense of common purpose.

On the campaign trail, this made Mr Obama seem psychologically interesting - almost as though he were yearning for the US to be a better version of itself. It will be interesting to see how he intends to bring that vision to life in a country where there are still profound racial divisions and which thrives on the vigour of its competitive political process.

Foreign policy

Look out for widespread use of the internet in the implementation of the Obama vision, by the way. Mr Obama's campaign was creative in using the web to raise funds and drum up an army of volunteers - he might have something similar in mind for his presidency.

Mr Obama will find himself tested and perhaps defined by foreign policy issues just as his predecessor was.

He has to find an exit strategy for Iraq that does not somehow enhance the regional power status of Iran.

And of course the issue of Iranian nuclear ambition cannot be ignored either. How will President Obama react to pressure from Israel, or from his own military commanders, to bomb Iran's reactor to prevent it from developing a bomb? We might know very soon.

In Afghanistan Mr Obama has talked of putting in more American troops and finishing the fight with al-Qaeda. That is easier said than done and if a beefed-up Afghan campaign goes badly, it will reflect on his judgment and damage his standing.

There remain the challenges of fighting effectively around the Pakistani border without alienating that turbulent ally. And that is before the problems of rebuilding - or rather building - Afghan civil society are contemplated.

Mr Obama has made history by winning power. As he attempts to make history in the way he exercises it, he will be weighed down by high expectations. He is going to need all the many gifts - and all the luck - that got him here.

Author:

By Kevin Connolly
BBC Washington correspondent

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The Connection Between Thoughts And Circumstances

Take a trip to any jail or prison and you will meet hundreds of people who will tell you they are the "victims" of their circumstances.

Travel through any big city ghetto and you'll hear the same thing.

Visit any affluent, high-class neighborhood, talk to the people there and you'll discover the same thing.

Visit a middle-class neighborhood in New York, Toronto, London or Sydney and you will meet people who believe they are the result of their circumstances, good or bad.

They will talk about the opportunities they were given, or the chances they were denied. They may be grateful for the education they were exposed to, or complain they were denied the education they deserve.

One person will tell you about her wonderful childhood and upbringing, while another will complain that she came from a "dysfunctional" family.

There is no denying that income, status, education, upbringing, neighborhood, family and many other situations will influence, effect and even determine the outcome of our lives.

But who creates the circumstances?

Your parents? Your environment? God? Destiny? Lost in all this analysis and the assumption of almost every unconscious person I have ever met is this one very important reality.

The effect of our thoughts ABOUT our circumstances.

We cannot change what happened to us, but we can change our PERCEPTION about what happened to us. This is the key to changing our present circumstances and our future.

Our minds are like a garden. We can intelligently cultivate our garden, or we can allow it to run wild. If you diligently attend to your garden, it will produce the things you cultivate.

If you don't plant specific seeds, then the animals, wind, and other elements will cause RANDOM things to grow which will likely choke out the things you want to cultivate from your garden.

One thing is certain, SOMETHING* WILL GROW IN YOUR GARDEN!

Just as a gardener must tend his or her garden, keeping out the weeds, you must tend the garden of your mind, weeding out the thoughts of lack, limitation and negativity.

If you practice gardening of this kind, you will soon discover that you are the gardener of your soul. You will come to the profound revelation that you are not the victim of your circumstances--but the creator of them.

The reason is simple:

Whatever you give your attention to and focus on shapes your character, creates your circumstances, and determines your ultimate destiny.

Please read that again

What you experience in your life is directly connected to your inner state of mind. The most important thing you can learn about success, prosperity and happiness is that cause (thought) and effect (results or experiences) are one.

But face this important fact - You don't simply end up in jail or the hospital, bankrupt, or alone anymore than you simply wake up rich, successful, happy, and healthy. All these CIRCUMSTANCES are the RESULT of thousands of little decisions, which are reached as a result of the thoughts you give your attention to.

Now, if you're like most people, this is the part where you start to mentally make excuses and argue with me.

Perhaps you believe that what I just said is true for other people, but you are quite certain that you have been the victim of extenuating circumstances beyond your control.

I know. I know. YOUR situation is different.

So just how does that work?

Let's talk about how all this applies to you.

First, you must accept that on one level or another, you have manifested everything that is happening in your life. Even the horrific, nasty stuff.

I agree that you don't do it consciously. But you do it. Now here's the thing . . .

You are surrounded by a data-sphere of information that promotes negativity, fear, anxiety, limitation, and lack. It pummels your senses from all directions. It comes from your TV, radio, the Internet, your friends, family, church and the people you work with.

Most people are so saturated by negative programming that they can't even conceive a life of anything but struggle and complaint.

What you read, what you listen to, and the people you talk with have a huge effect on the person you are and the thoughts you have. It not only comes from the media and other individuals but from the government.

The doom, gloom and negativity that is perpetuated by the government is designed to appeal to the programmed fear of the masses in order to get re-elected. We elect and re-elect these people to save and protect us from the pending doom and gloom.

If that wasn't enough, consider that the microcosm of our mass culture can be found in entertainment and even sports personalities. Most of these people are insecure, self-centered and only interested in their own 15 minutes of fame.

However, they are not the problem. We are, because we're willing to spend countless hours and pay billions of dollars to watch them, mimic their lifestyles and even their manner of dress.

You must recognize that this data-sphere is continually programming you 24/7, and that almost 95% of it is fear, lack, and limitation programming.

So what do you do?

If you want to reach the highest levels of success, you have to zealously guard the input you allow to come into your life. You must control your own programming, and reject the poisonous stuff most people are trying to feed you.

In order to focus on success, it is imperative that you spend more time on your own personal growth. Each morning and each evening before you go to bed, spend time on focusing on something positive.

Remember: You are the foundation from which all your dreams are made reality. This is the only way you can guarantee your success, wealth and happiness...

Until next time.

Your partner in change,
Dr. Robert Anthony
www.Robert-Anthony-Online.com/Secret

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