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Respect for Russia

• Mark Mardell
• 27 Oct 07, 05:59 PM

Vladimir Putin has a catchy turn of phrase and can’t seem to help himself, with pithy remarks about sanctions and

These were the headlines, but the summit itself was This was in large measure due to the Portuguese who are in the chair, They’ve worked hard and seem extremely efficient, but this is not what I mean.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates and his cabinet have a very romantic view of Russia. They love its music and its literature and see it as an important part of European civilisation. They think it is wrong to speak loudly or rudely to Russia, and think the EU missed an opportunity in the last decades when Russia was reaching out towards Europe. For them a smooth summit with no explosive lectures was essential.

They got agreements on and an early-warning system if there are problems with energy supply.

But as I say, Putin can’t help himself, and suggested a human rights monitoring organisation to examine abuses in Russia and the EU. One German journalist I spoke to saw this as hugely important, saying with reverence, "It will be based in Brussels." But people from the European Commission were bemused and I’m sure Putin’s taking the micky.

These summits are odd affairs, essentially between the relevant commissioners, the presidency and the

If Poland, Estonia or Latvia had been in the chair, the mood would have been very different. (See my reports from Latvia and Poland earlier in the week.)

One of the proposals in the controversial (and it was also a key part of the constitution) is to replace the buggins’-turn presidency with a permanent figure - Tony Blair, some muse, though it’s more likely to be or

But how much will individual nations miss putting their own stamp on such affairs?

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