EU - Russia relations
Guest blog - Tom Parker, Head of European Public Affairs for Interel in Brussels, looks at EU / Russia relations. He can be contacted at . Interel is a leading public affairs and strategic communications consultancy based in Brussels - http://www.interel.be/
Recent developments affecting the relationship between Russia and the European Union have led commentators to react that relations between the two are “at their worst since the cold war”. In the last few weeks alone, this observation has become increasingly hard to deny - indeed the call by UK authorities for the extradition of Alexander Litvinenko’s murderer, and subsequent refusal by the Russians to do so, has given both the rhetoric and the personnel involved a distinctly Cold War feel to them.
The legacy of the USSR is to be found elsewhere in Europe’s troubled relationship with Russia. Estonian and Russian policy makers exchanged harsh words over the removal from Tallinn of a Soviet-era statue to Red Army soldiers killed during the ‘liberation’ of Estonia from the Nazis, and the subsequent tension caused many to call for the cancellation of the EU-Russia Summit on May 17-18.
The summit went ahead, but was doomed from the start by Poland’s continued block on any negotiation for a new EU Russia agreement in protest at the Russian ban on its meat. The veto was supported in particular by the Lithuanians who have been frustrated by the closure of a main oil pipe-line through Russia. By all accounts the Summit was a bad-tempered and fruitless encounter.
Cold war or not, the crisis that is EU-Russia relations puts EU foreign policy under arguably the harshest scrutiny it has ever had to face. Whilst its foreign policy has until now focused on development, trade or accession, the relationship with Russia raises fundamental questions about energy security, unity amongst member states and the very principles by which the Union operates.
A fundamental relationship, therefore, as it was for much of the latter half of the 20th Century – with a conspicuous difference. Now Europe must engage with Russia without the attentive support and muscle of the US behind it, who, despite an ongoing interest in Kosovo, missile defences, and the war on terror, are now reluctant to interfere.
The absence of the US is critical because, if there is one thing lacking from the EU side, it is a clear driver of the relationship around which the Member Sates can unite. Recently, Russia has found it simple to pursue a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy with Europe, antagonising one Member State, whilst signing energy deals with others.
The stage was set for Germany, who holds the EU Presidency and is led by a woman brought up on the wrong side of the iron curtain, to present a united front. Germany has been reluctant to back Commission efforts to create a more unified EU energy market that would ensure easy gas distribution in the event of a supply emergency. It has done little to promote an EU-wide price for imported Russian gas.
With new leaders coming to power in the UK and France, now could be the time for the EU to develop a tougher, united stance towards Russia. If not, however, Europe could find that trade wars can be very cold as well.
Tom Parker –