Russia, EU can direct formation of new world order - Putin

ITAR-TASS

6 November 2003

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ROME, November 6 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia and the European Union can move forward in their cooperation by building up potential of mutual trust, President Vladimir Putin said at the European Union-Russia summit.

A "substantive, flexible, effective dialogue at all levels aimed at the achievement of practical results and real unblocking of problems hindering cooperation" is needed, he said.

Putin stressed that an "efficient and simple vertical of coordination, a clear mechanism of making decisions and, a main thing, their implementation are necessary" as instruments of cooperation.

The European continent and the whole world are in a period of major transformations, and "at present one must not be guided by outdated models of working interaction", the president said.

"How weightily the voice of Europe will sound in world politics, economy and trade, in security matters depends of coordination of action," Putin said.

Only by acting together can Russia and the enlarging European Union direct the process of the formation of a new world order, common values and interests, he said.

Putin thanked Italian colleagues for good preparation of the summit.

He recalled the previous summit in St. Petersburg, at which a strategic decision has been made to form common spaces in the economy, internal and external security, science, education and culture.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said that additional momentum should be given to the Russia-EU relations and positive tendencies that have emerged after the successful St. Petersburg summit consolidated.