RIAC Report #22, 2015
The Eastern Partnership policy that triggered the Ukrainian crisis has provided ample opportunity to reflect on Russia–EU relations,... ... countries (also called the Visegrad Four or V4).
The Visegrad Four have taken on responsibility for the eastward enlargement of the European Union having become its members.
Authors:
L. N. Shishelina, Dr. of History (Lead Author and Compiler); A. V. Drynochkin,...
... Ponomoreva E., Shishelina L. Latvia’s EU-2015 presidency: the Eastern Partnership instead of or together with Russia / Analytical report (ed. Gaman-Golutvina O.). Russian association of political science, Moscow, 2014. p. 4
3
. Poikans Juris The European Union Eastern Partnership from Vilnius to Riga // per Concordiam. Journal of European Security and Defence Problems Vol. 4, No. 4 p.18
On March 12, 2015, in Paris the
Institut francais des relations internationals
,
Latvian Institute of International Affairs
and Latvian Embassy in France held an invitees-only seminar “
Eastern Partnership and Eurasian Union: Colliding or Matching Strategies and Interests?
” attended by international experts, French and EU government executives, diplomats and businessmen.
RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov spoke on opportunities ...
... necessary at all. The problem of security in Europe and Eurasia after the collapse of the USSR was never adequately thought through and negotiated. If it had been, Russia might have ended up as a strategic partner rather than a geopolitical adversary.
The Eastern Partnership is essentially a project of anti-Russian Swedes and Poles, with much of the EU, going along with the project with different levels of reluctance or enthusiasm. Its sponsors must have given assurances that the project would not involve ...
... find an agreement on, but this is a matter for dialogue and discussion between the sides though this has never been the case. So this is probably the reason why there are misperceptions on the part of Russia and a lack of perception on the part of the European Union.
The Eastern partnership programme has made a lot of noise lately, especially since the Vilnius summit November. During the Vilnius summit in November, Georgia and Moldova signed association agreements with the EU, while Ukraine did not. Is there a fundamental ...
... momentum to the swinging of the ‘Ukrainian pendulum’. The false ‘Europe or Russia’ choice offered by the European Union further polarized Ukrainian society. Two alternative structures of the region were set against one another: the Eastern Partnership under the auspices of the European Union and the EurAsEC Customs Union. Russia could not remain an onlooker and managed to convince Yanukovych that signing the Association Agreement with the European Union was not good for Ukraine. Thereafter the crisis escalated, not least because ...
Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea has enraged the West. His lack of openness to any compromise has forced it to launch a — weak — sanctions regime. Putin finds this ‘unacceptable’ and threatens retaliation.
In yesterday’s speech — which many noted might have been his most important ever —, Putin hit a markedly anti-Western tone. Partially rewriting history, he bemoaned the West’s hypocrisy, double standards, and mingling in foreign countries;...
... more evidently than ever, is a strong High Representative to forge, not just manage, the EU’s common foreign policy.
The European Union needs a new face as its foreign policy chief. It needs to be someone with a vision and strategic thinking; someone ... ... unquestionable but who is a realist and not ashamed, or worse, afraid of geopolitics. Someone who will rethink and re-calibrate the Eastern Partnership, acknowledging its geopolitical nature. Someone who can make it fit the new reality shaped partly by a self-assured ...
The Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November 2013 demonstrated that the European Union’s policy toward its eastern neighbors has developed into a highly contentious issue between the EU and Russia. The summit was overshadowed by the decision of the Ukrainian government not to sign an Association Agreement with the EU ...
... the verge of significant changes that require a review of current integration principles. The absence of a final aim in the Eastern Partnership venture makes the EU vulnerable, pushing it to make compromises on its Eastern policy. While its Eastern partners ... ... this fact), the EU should welcome cooperation with the Easterners on any level.
This point appears especially important for the European Union in view of President Obama's intentions to place the U.S.A. at the lead of the Transpacific and Transatlantic partnerships,...