Lorne Cook
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/ 4 April 2008

Russia’s Putin stands firm against Nato

President Vladimir Putin on Friday maintained Russian opposition to a United States missile defence system and Nato’s enlargement during talks with alliance leaders, officials said. No progress was reported from the summit but Putin, in his last major international appearance before stepping down in May, and Nato leaders said the talks had been positive.

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/ 13 June 2006

DRC: EU’s election-force chief confident

The commander of a European Union force helping to provide security for elections next month in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) expressed confidence on Tuesday that his mission will be successful despite rising ethnic tensions ahead of the poll. But critics say the mission is largely a promotional exercise.

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/ 3 May 2006

EU punishes Serbia over fugitive war-crimes suspects

The European Union on Wednesday suspended talks on forging closer ties with Serbia, punishing Belgrade for failing to cooperate fully with UN prosecutors hunting Ratko Mladic and other war-crimes fugitives. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the talks on a stabilisation and association agreement — a precursor to any membership talks — were postponed mainly because Mladic, the former Bosnian-Serb commander wanted for genocide, remained at large.

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/ 30 January 2006

EU warns Hamas of need for change

The European Union warned Hamas on Monday that it will have to fundamentally change to win support from the 25-nation bloc, which has long been the Palestinians’ biggest aid donor. The warning to Hamas came from EU foreign ministers, who were meeting to discuss the militant Islamic group’s shock election win last week.

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/ 20 June 2005

EU seeks to keep lid on divisions

The European Union battled on Monday to maintain some semblance of unity despite poisonous rifts opened by its Constitution crisis, as the bloc’s new fault lines came under the spotlight at a summit with the United States. Now one French minister has accused Britain — widely blamed for the collapse of a summit last week — of not sharing Europe’s ”vision”.