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FT: Poland and Baltics oppose Italian foreign minister's appointment as EU representative for foreign affairs

BC, Riga, 15.07.2014.Print version
Poland and the Baltic States have proposed a campaign against Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini to block her candidacy for the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs' position, claiming that Rome's relations with Moscow are too "friendly", newspaper Financial Times indicates.

At the end of this past weekend, Europe's center-left leaders, including Italy’s Matteo Renzi and France’s Francois Hollande, agreed to endorse Mogherini, informs LETA/ELTA, referring to RIA-NOVOSTI.

 

However, a lot of European Union representatives believe that Mogherini, who has been Italian foreign minister since February, lacks experience and stature.

 

A new candidate for the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs' position could be picked during the EU summit in Brussels on July 15-16.

 

Additional sanctions against Russia will be discussed as well.

 

Italy, just as Germany, has established close economic bonds with Russia. The scope of trade between both countries has grown rapidly since 2009, and currently Italy is the second largest Russia's trade partner in Europe.

 

During the press conference on Monday, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite was asked to comment on the article by Financial Times. She stressed that the candidate for the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs' position "ought to be at least neutral in regard to various different opinions and try to coordinate them," instead of holding "a narrow or very controversial viewpoint in regard to Ukraine."

 

Nevertheless, she did not confirm that the Baltic States, including Lithuania, are blocking Mogherini's candidacy.

 

"First of all, there has been no such decision. It will be discussed only on Wednesday, and this is the first time I have heard that Lithuania objects. Lithuania will announce its opinion on Wednesday," Grybauskaite told the press representatives.






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