MOSCOW, Nov. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin hassigned a revised protocol designed to promote relations between Russia and the recently-enlarged European Union (EU), the Russian presidential press service said Saturday.

    The protocol extends the existing Russia-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) to the 10 new EU members -- the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.     

    The original PCA signed in 1994 aimed at boosting political, economic and cultural cooperation between the two sides.

    Moscow was earlier unwilling to extend the pact to the EU members who joined the bloc in May fearing Russia would lose its traditional markets in East Europe and would face a more complex EU political situation.

    However, both houses of the Russian parliament -- the State Duma and the Federation Council -- eventually agreed to the revised protocol and ratified the revision last month, the presidential press service said. Enditem