FACTBOX - Possible EU steps in the South Ossetia crisis

Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:59am BST
 
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(Reuters) - Here are some of the possible measures which European Union leaders will discuss at an emergency summit next Monday on Russia's intervention in Georgia and its recognition of rebel regions there.

SANCTIONS

- Analysts and officials acknowledge the scope for sanctions on the bloc's largest supplier of oil and gas is limited and that any action could end up hurting Europe more than it hurts Moscow. Nonetheless there is a push from mainly east European states to consider some of the following options:

- postponement or cancellation of the next round of talks on a wide-ranging new partnership accord between the EU and Russia which was originally set for September 15-16 in Brussels

- steps to curtail some of the 19 low-level negotiations currently being pursued on various aspects of EU-Russia ties

- a tightening of visa arrangements for Russians -- a move which advocates say would hit the country's business and political elite

- withdrawing support for Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and putting into question its role in Group of Eight (G8) meetings. However the likelihood of either option has been played down in recent days

- symbolic gestures such as raising "concern" that regional tensions could jeopardise Russia's plans to host the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, just 40 km (25 miles) from the Georgian border.

HELP FOR GEORGIA  Continued...

 
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