On September 14, 2016 the Latvian Institute of International Affairs (Riga) held a public debate “The West and Russia: Bridges or Walls?” which was attended by experts, politicians and media representatives. RIAC Program Manager Ekaterina Chimiris represented at the event the Russian expert community.
On September 14, 2016 the Latvian Institute of International Affairs (Riga) held a public debate “The West and Russia: Bridges or Walls?” which was attended by experts, politicians and media representatives.
RIAC Program Manager Ekaterina Chimiris represented at the event the Russian expert community. In her speech she noted that, notwithstanding continued Russian and Western politicians’ competing accusations at the public discourse, both sides realized that the putting an end to a dialogue could be fraught with grave consequences. Russia and Europe face a number of common problems, namely the crisis in Ukraine, the construction of a new architecture of European and Euro-Atlantic security, and many others that require negotiations for finding acceptable solutions.
Experts and participants were equally of the opinion that it was time for Russia and Europe to exert every effort to find a common language to communicate, move away from public recriminations, learn to listen and understand each other.
