EU-Russia Ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that new EU members need to "get over past phobias" that are poisoning relations between Russia and the union.

"We do not have particular problems with the EU. We have had certain difficulties with our nearby neighbors," Putin told a press conference during an official visit to Vienna.

"The Soviet Union is in part to blame but our European partners must get over past phobias," he added.

"With the EU enlargement these problems now belong to the European Union. This does not contribute to rapid evolution of relations" with Moscow, Putin insisted.

A Russian embargo on Polish meat imports is at the heart of a deepening political crisis between Moscow and Brussels that has blocked talks on a new EU-Russia accord since late last year.

Relations have also been strained by a dispute over energy exports to Lithuania and a bitter controversy over the removal of a Soviet war monument in Estonia.

Putin's trip closely follows a tense summit last week in which relations between the EU and Russia dipped to a new low over issues such as human rights, and a trade dispute with Poland.

Calls from activists

Amnesty International, The International Helsinki Federation and Reporters Without Borders are staging protests. Rubina Möhring, the president of Reporters Without Borders in Austria, called for politicians to link human rights and media freedoms to business deals.

"I would like them to say to Mr. Putin to act in the way that human rights and press freedom are respected in Russia, and that this behavior could influence the discussion about the economic treaties as well," Möhring said.

The Austrian President said he plans to raise issues of democracy and human rights with Putin, but said this will be done behind closed doors and bilateral relations and business deals will dominate the visit.

Pipeline control at issue

Like much of Europe, Austria is a big consumer of Russian energy. It is also a partner in the proposed Nabucco pipeline, which will bring gas from the Caspian Sea to Central Europe -- bypassing Russia.

The trip gives Moscow the chance to put its case as a reliable supplier and to do deals on energy cooperation. Edward Christie, a Vienna-based energy specialist and economist, said there is competition for control of the pipelines.

"A certain number of European countries would much rather channel some of these Central Asian resources directly to European markets and not have them transit through Russia," Christie said. "For Russia, on the other hand, it is obviously extremely beneficial to have those resources transit their territory."