” “Two days before the summit between the European Union and Russia, planned for May 25th in Sochi (Black Sea), the diplomacies are getting ready for the meeting which will address a wide range of subjects: political relations between Brussels and Moscow; the stability of democracy in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East; economic relations, with special reference to the energy market. In addition, the focus will be on the promotion and protection of human rights in view of the fact since May 19th the government led by Vladimir Putin has been at the helm of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe. The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, illustrated in Strasbourg the program for the six months’ chair of the CoE, taking as its slogan: “Towards a Europe with no dividing lines”. Five are the main subjects that Lavrov would like to be the focus of the Russian work at the Palais de l’Europe: “Enhancement of the national mechanisms for the protection of human rights and national minorities”; “building of a common European juridical space for protecting individuals from the challenges of modern society”; “improvement of access to social rights”; “development of effective forms of democracy and civil participation”; “strengthening of tolerance and mutual understanding” through cooperation “in the areas of culture, education, science, youth and sports”.
