August 21, 2007
Could Russia inspire a joint EU foreign policy?
Whatever one thinks of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, its hardnosed diplomacy has traditionally got results when dealing with the bickering European Union member states. Divide and rule has been a successful policy, culminating in Germany’s decision to help build a gas pipeline that would bypass Poland and the Baltic states. Now, however, Moscow seems to be engaged in scattergun attacks on EU countries – which could rebound on it.
This week it crossed two of its traditional supporters in the bloc: Italy and Sweden.
It banned Italian poultry imports because of a couple of cases of bird flu, drawing annoyance from Paolo De Castro, Italian agriculture minister.
“Russia’s decision does not appear to be justified by any other reasons than commercial ones. There is no danger for consumers,” he said.
It was once just Poland that had its meat blocked by Moscow but now poultry from Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the UK have been added to the list.
While Poland’s complaints – which lead it to block talks on a successor to the current partnership agreement with Moscow - looked like a shrill standout, it now looks more mainstream.
Sweden, which long ago learned to lie quietly beside the Russian bear, also hit out on Monday. Sten Tolgfors, the trade minister, said publicly that Moscow could not join the World Trade Organisation until it kept its word to abolish duty on birchwood, a vital ingredient for the Swedish pulp industry.
He wrote a stiff letter to Peter Mandelson, the trade commissioner. Mr Mandelson also considers the issue non-negotiable.
Russia continues to block oil exports to Lithuania’s main refinery and has partially cut rail connections with Estonia.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the new French president, and Angela Merkel, his German counterpart, have both paid high profile trips to the US and are unlikely to be found sharing a joke with Mr Putin at the expense of British food, as Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroder did.
But Russia’s biggest potential headache is London. The murder of KGB agent-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. David Miliband, the foreign secretary, has mused that it could be time talked of establishing a common Russia policy. And if the British, traditionally sceptical of such joint EU fronts, are in favour, others may fall into line.
I think that Russia is wrong, but Europe is not doing better. Russia is bewteen Asia (read: China) and Europe, and if European leaders don’t find a common and friendly language with Russia, PRC will take the grip on Russia (and Syberia, with its huge resources). Poland, for Western Europe, is less important than Russia. Without an allied Russia, Europe borders Asia. But Russia can’t accept being the junior partner in a alliance with Western countries, as during Yeltsin’s years. We have to respect Putin (Chinese, Arabian or African leaders are not more democratic), but Putin must respect us.
Posted by: gabriel | August 25th, 2007 at 1:28 pm | Report this commentThe problem with that is that the disparity
Posted by: Randy McDonald | August 25th, 2007 at 7:48 pm | Report this commentbetween the European Union and Russia is such that it’s hard to avoid an unequal relationship–compare the United States-Mexican relationship, say.
Sorry, Randy, which is the US and which Mexico in your analogy? Surely Russia’s mineral wealth and arsenal make it act more like the US than Mexico?
Posted by: Anonymous | August 26th, 2007 at 3:16 pm | Report this commentRussian GDP is about equal to that of S.E. England. It is hardly a serious rival. The West already has a foreign policy for which NATO is the teeth. We do not need the usual anti-American suspects using the EU to create artifical divisions in the West. Brussels should stick to the single market and nothing more.
Posted by: John | August 28th, 2007 at 2:53 pm | Report this commentNATO and the EU are playing very different roles here. If there is a dispute between, say, Russia and our Polish allies over meat or over oil pipeline routes, NATO is not the right foreign policy tool to use to address the issue.
Posted by: Chris Sherwood | August 28th, 2007 at 5:02 pm | Report this commentAh Chris, the “Chumbawamba” of the pro-EU blogosphere. He gets knocked down, he gets up again … but as with some boxers you wonder if he has taken too many blows for his own good.
Posted by: John | August 28th, 2007 at 7:58 pm | Report this commentThe Russia “problem” is a neocon fabrication ,the root is the Oligarchs stealing all the Russian assets in the 90’s for cents on the euro, why the media never talks about this incredible theft? Russia can and must be a EU partner,why are you already declaring this a conflict and Russia the enemy ? Europe’s interest is the Friendship and Trade between EU and Russia,and the whole World,what’s wrong with that ?
Posted by: blogger | September 2nd, 2007 at 10:43 pm | Report this commentRussia as the geographicaly largest country of the world and as such also as the richest by all kind of natural resources-welth in the world, has been finaly successfuly consolidating itself after Russia and the Russian people being the first and major victim of comunism in 20th century which was mostly implanted to Russia from abroad (from the socalled West)and after being a victim again in the last decade of 2oth century by comunist colapse where Russia and the Russian people were victims of the massive robbery by a gang of gangsters who rubed and stole a few hundred BILLIONS USD to Russia and its people and illegaly transfering it out of the county.
And these gangsters in exile with billions of stolen Russian money in their pockets are now “fihting” for socalled “democracy” and socalled “human right” and demonizing Putin-Solzenitzin Russia who is successfuly fighting against these gansters with its great efforts to protect Russia and Russian people also by trying to renovate the Russian society with badly needed patriotism, self estime, some fundametal social values also by the help of Russian Orthodocs Church in order to fil the vacuum created by 80 years of comunism.
Posted by: Marjan Starc | September 17th, 2007 at 6:22 pm | Report this commentSome people in the West do not like it and wanted to make Russia another “Nigeria”.
Who are those people in the West who want to make Russia an enemy to us Europe and why ? to whose good ? Isn’t it only natural nad logical for Europe and Russia to normaly cooperate and trade in todays ever smaler globalised world to thebenefit of Russians and us Europeans being also part of same socalled “Western civilisation”.
Why does Russia, along with its supporters, always claim to be a victim? As far as Marjan’s comment that communism implanted in Russia by the west what nonsense. The basic premise behind the ideology was refined in Germany, true, but it was not forced on the Russian people by outside forces. The Russians forced it on themselves and punished any of there countrymen that stood in the way. They were then so bold as to dare and try and foist there russian communism (aka stalinism) on the rest of the world with incredibly damaging effect. It will be a generation before eastern europe (the real victims) recover from the after effects of Russia’s Communism.
Posted by: Cordellion | September 20th, 2007 at 9:41 am | Report this commentAnd as far a a new nationalist pride circulating through russia being a good thing… that is nonsense. The creation of state and putin focused youth groups, mob like intimidation of other countries, murder of dissidents, and the blocking of political parties that do not hold the same view, alcoholism and rampant sexually trasmitted diseases that are ignored by the state and its institutions - does that sound like a good thing? Patriotism, self esteem, social values, open newspaper man talk to those living in countries that have to deal with russia on a day to day basis before claiming something like that.
Finally, the new EU proposal does not bar Russian from coming into the EU energy sector, it merely states that their must be reciprocity. Why again is that bad? How come Russia can close of its energy sector and then complain when others do the same thing. Further more, the EU has not closed of the Energy sector completely to Russia it has only stated that it cannot own a majority stake in any EU company with out first opening up its own market. If Russia has no other ambitions then to make money and work with the EU to ensure energy security then what is the problem with this? A market place filled with many competing players is more efficient and cost effective then one dominated by a single player.
Russia sees energy as its ticket back onto the globabl playing field. It wants to play with the big boys again but it doesnt mind acting like a baby in order to be able to do so.
I say grow up.
MOSCOW, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has lifted temporary restrictions on the imports of poultry products from Italy, imposed in August following an outbreak of bird flu, Russia’s agricultural watchdog said Thursday.
Posted by: Nicu Popescu | September 26th, 2007 at 12:07 pm | Report this commentThanks Nicu for the update. Perhaps the united front is working - or perhaps Russia realised that it doesn’t import many Italian chickens anyway!
Posted by: Andrew Bounds | September 27th, 2007 at 11:54 pm | Report this commentHow very true, Cordellion. And in general what kind of a country is it where world chess champion Kasparov is officially called an “extremist” and Chechen butcher Kadirov receives the award of “Hero of Russian Federation”? Do not be misleaded. Russians will not stop when they feel they are respected. Just the other way around. The most exciting part of the game will begin. In place of Western Europeans I would not think chicken now.
Posted by: Vadim Ivanchenko | September 28th, 2007 at 1:54 pm | Report this comment