On April 28, 2016 Madrid hosted the fourth conference “Thinking of Russia from the EU,” organized annually by the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), the European Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFR), and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The conference brought together leading European experts on Russia and the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbors. RIAC Program Manager Elena Alekseenkova delivered a report that revealed a number of opportunities still available to the EU and Russia.
On April 28, 2016 Madrid hosted the fourth conference “Thinking of Russia from the EU,” organized annually by the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), the European Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFR), and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
The classic Russian question “What to do?” became the key issue of discussion at the conference this year. However, most of the participants of the event noted the EU’s limited prospects and instruments for exerting influence on Russia’s foreign policy at the present moment. The Russian participants emphasized the need for an in-depth analysis of internal processes taking place in Russia, in the economic sphere above all, as well as of changes in the public sentiments and expectations.
The conference brought together leading European experts on Russia and the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbors. RIAC Program Manager Elena Alekseenkova delivered a report that revealed a number of opportunities still available to the EU and Russia, seizing which could prevent a further escalation of tension and promote positive changes in the long run.
