European leaders 'must unite in gas talks'

European leaders expressed concern yesterday that the EU's credibility will be shattered if they fail to maintain a united front when they discuss oil and gas supplies with Russia's Vladimir Putin at a high-stakes summit this week.
José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, said there could be a "discordant chorus" of views at tomorrow's "informal" EU leaders' summit in Lahti, near Helsinki, which posed "a question not only of solidarity but credibility for the EU".
Diplomats and politicians fear that Mr Putin will be treated to the spectacle of European leaders falling out and competing to placate the Kremlin leader, rather than put at risk national oil and gas imports from Russia.
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The concerns are particularly acute since Russia made a string of decisions in recent months to eject European energy companies from important new Russian oil and gas fields.
There are fears that Germany has been transformed into another self-serving nation state after Russia offered lucrative long-term gas and oil export deals to German energy firms and banks. France is another nation unwilling to challenge Mr Putin's increasingly authoritarian rule.
Eikka Kosonen, the EU ambassador of summit hosts Finland, said: "We should use the time to express a joint message rather than individual views."