Word: membership
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Sigurdardottir, an openly gay former air stewardess, says E.U. membership is the only viable option to anchor Iceland's shattered economy. "I sincerely hope and believe that we will end up with an agreement that will help us create the necessary economic stability, [and] ensure prosperity in the long term for both families and businesses," she added. (Read: "Iceland Picks the World's First Openly...
...Iceland sees the E.U. as a safe haven from the world's harsh economic winds. In particular, euro membership would allow it to ditch the crippled krona. The E.U. would gain a new member with similar values to its own, which would help strengthen its reach as a global power. In return, Iceland can expect accession talks to move at a double-quick pace. As a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), Iceland already has access to the E.U.'s single market. It is also part of Europe's border-free Schengen zone, and virtually all the other...
...plans to let these countries join NATO ... but [Russia] can help by making it clear [it] will not attack or destabilize any of [its] neighbors." Even a private agreement, though, would risk being interpreted as a betrayal by those in Georgia and Ukraine who seek the protection of NATO membership. Nor would it go down well in Congress, where there is broad bipartisan sympathy for both nations...
...thawing since Barack Obama took over the White House, E.U.-Russia relations remain frosty. Talks about a new bilateral treaty on political and economic cooperation have made little headway. Hopes for a free trade agreement between Brussels and Moscow have withered after Russia last week put its application for membership in the World Trade Organization on ice. E.U.-Russia energy cooperation remains stuck, which increases the risk of yet another gas crisis this year. Europeans have responded to Moscow's ideas about constructing a "new European security architecture" with a distinct lack of enthusiasm...
...Soviet states along its border as its "privileged sphere of influence," in the words of President Dmitry Medvedev. The E.U.'s new "Eastern Partnership" initiative, launched in May, offers these countries economic integration and stronger political ties. Although the E.U. has shied away from talking about the prospect of membership, however distant, it hopes to help its eastern neighbors to become richer, more stable and more democratic. This would leave them better equipped to withstand Russian meddling and bullying...