"Russia remains an important partner" for the EU; because of this, "a new partnership and cooperation agreement" between Moscow and the 27 EU member states must be implemented as soon as possible. The European Parliament approved, at today’s meeting, a document signed by most political groups, in which such partnership is deemed to be "beneficial to everybody". At the same time, the MEPs insist for "democracy and human rights to be at the heart of any future agreement". The document states that the current situation in Russia "is a cause of concern for the respect of human rights, democracy, freedom of expression and the right of society and the citizens to challenge the authorities and call them to justify their work". Similar concern is expressed for the minorities. Then, Strasbourg makes an appeal to the governments of Russia and the United States, asking them to "discuss more deeply the issues of security and defence that affect" the EU and its member states; in addition, it asks the Russian and US governments to "abstain from taking initiatives and decisions that might be regarded as a threat against peace and stability in the European continent".
