Reinfeldt Videos

Russia and the European Union stressed their unity and steered away from open disputes at a summit in Stockholm on Wednesday as they sought each other's backing on issues of trade and climate change. The EU is keen to enlist Russian support for an ambitious deal on fighting global warming at United Nations talks in Copenhagen in December, while Russia wants the EU's support in joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) as soon as possible. The summit "confirmed our common objective - a strategic partnership built on trust and transparency," said Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who hosted the summit as the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency. His guest, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, hailed the talks as "constructive, without any kind of emotions blocking cooperation." At the summit, EU leaders said that Medvedev had pledged to cut his country's greenhouse gas emissions to 20-25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020- an improvement of 10 per cent on earlier offers, and one which brings Russia's pledge in line with the EU's own. The announcement of the goal should make it easier for the EU to demand emissions cuts from other key players, especially the United States and Canada, in Copenhagen, leaders said. Swedish Prime Minister and President of the European Council Fredrik Reinfeldt is meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt chairs the summit. Minister for Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson and Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt are attending the summit. The EU is also represented at the summit by President of the Commission Jos Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative Javier Solana. Issues to be addressed include climate change, energy, the global economy and follow-up of the G20 summit. Discussions also cover areas in which the EU and Russia maintain ongoing cooperation, including economic and trade issues, regional cooperation and cooperation in the area of justice. Current foreign policy issues are also on the agenda. Trade barriers for European companies are high on the agenda. The climate issue, the economic crisis and the uncertainty surrounding Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are important issues to be discussed. Both parties have to continue to coordinate their efforts to meet the economic crisis. In this context, the EU will emphasise the importance of avoiding protectionism. Today, for example, discriminatory road tolls and trade sanctions are hindering European companies. Russia's position as the EU's most important energy partner is discussed, as well as the importance of putting into place a better early warning system for gas supply reductions, for example. Another issue that will be brought up is the situation in Georgia. One of the EU's top priorities at the summit is to urge Russia to present pledges on emissions reductions ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. During the debate held in the European Parliament on Wednesday evening, several parliamentarians brought up the Human Rights situation in Russia. Recently the European Parliament awarded the Sacharov Prize for freedom of thought to the Russian human rights organisation Memorial. The Council wants to appeal to Russia to do its best to ensure that Human Rights defenders can carry out their work without fear of violence, harassment or threats.Source: BR-TV

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the 27 member states of the European Union, previews today's EU-Russia talks at a press moment together with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev. 00:00:00 Title 00:00:05 General view and arrival of Swedish Prime Minister and President of the European Council Fredrik Reinfeldt and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev 00:00:16 SOUNDBITE (Swedish) Fredrik Reinfeldt: over the last year, the relationship between us has been characterised by an increasing bilateral trade. Now 400 companies from Sweden and Russia, the volume of investment has grown by 500% over the last years in Stockholm, we can see how the number of Russian tourists is growing. This is one of the manifestations of such a growing exchange. We have agreed that we need sustainable and predictable conditions for Swedish businesses which would consider increasing their investment in Russia. We started discussing climate issues which are high on the agenda in the EU Russia summit. 00:01:20 Cutaway 00:01:23 SOUNDBITE (Russian) Dmitry Medvedev: I would like to thank Mr Reinfeldt for this invitation which allows me to visit Sweden, it has been a long time since we had the opportunity for such a talk. As far as our bilateral relation is concerned, over the last years they have been progressing quite well, the volume of our bilateral trade last year was at a very high level, over 8 billion dollars. This is the highest bilateral trade volume we have ever had. Certainly this year it has gone down due to the crisis, but it is the price we have to pay for participating in a global economy.I hope that our bilateral trade will be consolidated, the more so as we have a lot in common, projects on the way, there are companies that are very big, like Ikea and some others, those are very popular brands in Russia. I hope that the work on this track will be continued, and our consumers can get high quality goods." Swedish Prime Minister and President of the European Council Fredrik Reinfeldt is meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt chairs the summit. Minister for Enterprise and Energy Maud Olofsson and Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt are attending the summit. The EU is also represented at the summit by President of the Commission Jos Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative Javier Solana. Issues to be addressed include climate change, energy, the global economy and follow-up of the G20 summit. Discussions also cover areas in which the EU and Russia maintain ongoing cooperation, including economic and trade issues, regional cooperation and cooperation in the area of justice. Current foreign policy issues are also on the agenda. Trade barriers for European companies are high on the agenda. The climate issue, the economic crisis and the uncertainty surrounding Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are important issues to be discussed. Both parties have to continue to coordinate their efforts to meet the economic crisis. In this context, the EU will emphasise the importance of avoiding protectionism. Today, for example, discriminatory road tolls and trade sanctions are hindering European companies. Russia's position as the EU's most important energy partner is discussed, as well as the importance of putting into place a better early warning system for gas supply reductions, for example. Another issue that will be brought up is the situation in Georgia. One of the EU's top priorities at the summit is to urge Russia to present pledges on emissions reductions ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. During the debate held in the European Parliament on Wednesday evening, several parliamentarians brought up the Human Rights situation in Russia. Recently the European Parliament awarded the Sacharov Prize for freedom of thought to the Russian human rights organisation Memorial. The Council wants to appeal to Russia to do its best to ensure that Human Rights defenders can carry out their work without fear of violence, harassment or threats. Source: BR-TV

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I want to welcome, for the second day in a row, Prime Minister Reinfeldt. I also want to recognize President Barroso and Javier Solana. These three gentlemen obviously represent the leadership and the increasing integration -- successful integration that's been taking place in Europe. I congratulated them on the conclusion of the Lisbon Treaty, which will further move Europe in the direction of integration not only on economic policy but also on a number of security issues. I believe that a strengthened and renewed EU will be an even better transatlantic partner with the United States. And so we are extraordinarily appreciative and supportive of the efforts that they've made and the leadership of these three gentlemen. Our discussions today built on my April meeting with all 27 EU leaders in Prague. We discussed our shared commitment to success in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where EU civilian assistance has played an absolutely critical role. We discussed climate change extensively, and all of us agreed that it was imperative for us to redouble our efforts in the weeks between now and the Copenhagen meeting to assure that we create a framework for progress in dealing with what is a potential ecologic disaster. We discussed the situation in Iran and emphasized how important it is for the United States and the European Union to coordinate carefully and closely in sending a clear message to Tehran that we want them to be a full member of the community of nations, but that they have to act consistent with international rules and responsibilities with respect to their nuclear program. We reaffirmed our commitment to strong, sustained economic growth that was articulated by the G20 in Pittsburgh, and reaffirmed our intent to continue to expand trade and resist protectionist measures between the United States and the European Union. And we spoke about how we can actually coordinate more effectively in preventing terrorism from spreading between our various countries. We also had a discussion about the Middle East and how we can work together closely on that front. Over all, I want to say a special congratulations to President Barroso, who's been reelected for another five-year term. He has done an excellent job in his role with the Commission. And I want to thank Fredrik for the leadership that he's shown on a wide range of issues, not just within Europe but around the globe as well. Javier has been a critical partner with us in dealing with the Iran issue. So these three gentlemen have shown global leadership. I'm glad they had a chance to visit the United States, and I'm absolutely committed to continuing to strengthen the transatlantic partnership that this meeting represents. PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT: Well, thank you very much, Barack. Thank you for the hospitality. This is also very important for Europe to value this trust, cooperation with the United States, and since we share the same values. And I think we had a very good meeting. We had at length a discussion about climate change. And I want to say that we need an agreement that can deliver on the 2-degree target that could give us a solution on financing and that is global and that keeps -- puts everyone together. That is what we need to see. And I want to say that I think President Obama has shown real leadership on this issue. When we talk to people here in the United States they all come back to this, that President Obama himself is very committed. He has great knowledge in this item and we have great hopes for your leadership in this issue. When it comes to Afghanistan, we also have a close partnership in Afghanistan. We have a huge representation also on European Union side; we have 35,000 troopers there and more than a billion euros a year that we actually invest in development resources given to Afghanistan. So of course we need to have a close working relation when it comes to finding a way for Afghani ownership of the development in Afghanistan. We actually have also delivered on four points. We have a start on cooperating on energy and launched an EU-U.S. ministerial energy council. Our foreign energy ministers will have their first meeting tomorrow, which we welcome. Secondly, we intensify our cooperation and dialogue on transatlantic economic integration in order to reduce the barriers of trade. Third, deliverance is restored on dialogue and development on global food security, climate change litigation, and the Millennium Development Goals; and last, to intensify the EU-U.S. cooperation on anti-microbio resistance. So we are very glad for all of these deliverances as well. Thank you. PRESIDENT OBAMA: Excellent. PRESIDENT BARROSO: I think President Obama and Prime Minister Reinfeldt already made the most important points regarding this very productive meeting we just had. I'd like to thank President Obama for his very kind words to the European Union. In fact, we believe that is more important than ever, this relationship. In this age of globalization it is quite obvious that the United States and Europe can make a real difference. There are so many issues on the global agenda, from climate change to financial and economic cooperation, to trade -- many issues that we have discussed today. Regarding climate change I want to tell that I am more confident now than I was in days before. The Copenhagen -- this issue has been slow, but I would like once again to pay tribute to President Obama's leadership. As I said earlier, President Obama changed the climate on the climate negotiations because with the strong leadership of United States we can indeed make an agreement. We are working toward a framework agreement in Copenhagen that will be an important agreement for the world. And we had particularly a very good discussion on this today and I think it was one of the most important points of our exchange. Of course I want to repeat what President Obama and Prime Minister Reinfeldt just said, it is extremely important on the other issues like Afghanistan and Pakistan and the issue of global security also we work together, now negotiating it with the Lisbon Treaty -- the Lisbon Treaty, the treaty that we will give the European Union a reinforced capacity to act, a more clear position also, externally working with our main partners, and of course working especially with our American friends. PRESIDENT OBAMA: Javier. PRESIDENT SOLANA: I have nothing to add, Mr. President. (Laughter.) Mr. President, thank you very much for your hospitality. We appreciate it. PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, thank you very much. You should understand that the rule in Washington is even if you don't have anything to say -- (laughter) -- you should take a long time to say it. (Laughter.) So obviously we'll have to give you more training. (Laughter.) Thank you very much, everybody.

EU leaders Jose Manuel Barroso and Fredrick Reinfeldt on Friday presented the outcome of the October Brussels summit on climate finance as a success, even though the 27-nation block remains split over how to finance the impact of climate change in developing countries. Distributed by Tubemogul.