On September 29-30, 2016 Russian experts on security policy and Russia-EU relations paid a visit to Brussels.
During the stay there, the delegation visited the NATO headquarters, the European External Action Service (EEAS), as well as the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA).
On September 29-30, 2016 Russian experts on security policy and Russia-EU relations paid a visit to Brussels.
During the stay there, the delegation visited the NATO headquarters, the European External Action Service (EEAS), as well as the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA).
On September 29, the experts held a series of meetings with North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials, namely NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary-General Jamie Shea, as well as representatives of such countries as Italy, the USA, Estonia to NATO.
Robert Pszczel, Director of the NATO Information Office in Moscow (NIO), who had extended an invitation to the Russian delegation, opened the event. Mr. Pszczel elaborated on the agenda of NATO and outlined possible measures to overcome the crisis.
Throughout the day, the sides discussed relations between Russia and the Alliance, joint solutions to problems and prospects for further cooperation.
The Russian delegation included: Tatyana Parkhalina, Deputy Director of the RAS Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences (INION); Dmitry Danilov, Head of the European Security Department of the RAS Institute of Europe; Oleg Ivanov, Vice-Rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry; political writer Konstantin Eggert; Maxim Starchak, Editor of Pathways to Peace and Security journal of IMEMO. TheRussian International Affairs Council was represented by its Program Coordinator Anna Kuznetsova.
On September 30, there was held a discussion of experts at the European External Action Service, which was attended by Fernando Andresen Guimaraes, Head of the EEAS Russia Division. He briefed on the background to developing Russian-European relations, noting the complicated foreign policy situation. “But even under these unfavorable circumstances, Russia and the European Union, the two big partners, will continue to maintain the relationship on specific issues”, said Fernando Andresen Guimaraes. The experts also discussed the results of the sanctions, which, in both sides’ judgment, proved to be largely ineffective, as well as the issues and prospects for cooperation in the economic sphere and in migration policy.
The results of the two-day visit were summed up at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where the Russian participants were received by the NATO PA Secretary General, as well as representatives of European think tanks.
