President Vladimir Putin: Dear Mr Federal Chancellor!
Allow me to wish you a warm welcome to Moscow. You and I meet quite regularly in various places in Europe, but on this particular occasion it gives me great pleasure to welcome you here in the capital of the Russian Federation.
The pleasure is all the greater because relations have been developing very well between our two countries, especially recently, and have reached a high level. This is true not just of our political contacts but also of our economic ties. We have reached a record figure of more then $2 billion for bilateral trade this year. I think the final result for the year will be around $2.5 billion. Direct Austrian investment in the Russian economy is also on the rise. This level of relations offers many opportunities of which we can make effective use. I am sure, Mr Chancellor that your visit will contribute towards reaching these objectives.
Welcome!
Federal Chancellor of Austria Wolfgang Schussel: Thank you.
Thank you very much for your invitation, Mr President. This is a special moment for me. I am making this visit to you because Austria will be holding the presidency of the European Union next year and, naturally, we will be discussing above all the question of 2007, when the cooperation and partnership agreement between Russia and the European Union expires.
Seeing as the media is here – the TV and the press – I would above all like to thank you for the invitation and I would also like to take this opportunity to personally thank you for the unique event we were able to take part in this year – for presenting Austria with the original of the State Treaty for a few months. It is perhaps hard for you to imagine just how much it meant for us to have the original of this document – the document testifying to the birth of the independent and sovereign Republic of Austria. In this significant year of 2005 that has seen us mark such anniversaries as 60 years since the end of the war, 50 years since the State Treaty and 10 years since Austria joined the European Union, this was a very important event for us. The document was shown at two exhibitions in Vienna at the Belvedere Palace and at Schallaburg. Practically one in ten Austrians had the opportunity of personally seeing this document. And more than 10 million viewers watched a number of documentaries that were shown on television. We can discuss all of this in more detail later of course, but I wanted above all to thank you very much for this gesture.
Our economic ties are indeed developing very well. I must say that this development reflects the work you are doing – we can see that the economy is growing, that unemployment and inflation are coming down, the level of poverty is being reduced and economic growth is visible in the country. Over the six months of the Austrian presidency of the European Union we want to continue this cooperation, be it in the economy, on environmental issues, transport development or security.
As a country that is home to the headquarters of certain of the UN organisations and the OSCE, we place great emphasis on cooperation with these international organisations. We also have a very large number of international issues to discuss – from Iran to the Middle East and from Afghanistan to the Balkans – your knowledge and experience are needed for the resolution of all of these issues.
Vladimir Putin: First of all, I want to say that we place a lot of hope on the Austrian presidency of the European Union next year. Over these months of the British presidency we have taken considerable steps forward in our relations with the European Union and have strengthened our commitment to implementing the plans for creating the four common spaces.
We have very good relations with Austria and we hope that our cooperation with you, as president of the European Union, will see us make further progress in this work. The same is true of course, for coordinating our positions on key international issues.
Regarding our relations, they have roots that reach deep, right back to the very beginnings of the formation of modern Austria. These are good memories for us because Russia – the Soviet Union as it was then – played a key role in the formation of the new Austria. Handing you the original of the State Treaty was not a usual gesture in diplomatic practice, of course, but we felt that we were simply obliged to give the Austrian people the chance to see the document that is at the foundation of modern Austrian statehood. Furthermore, it was in answer to your personal request, Mr Federal Chancellor. Given these circumstances, we have prepared a copy of this document that I would like to hand you today.
Wolfgang Schussel: Thank you.