Although EU-Russia relations have been troubled for some time, the year 2021 appeared to mark a further decline in their bilateral ties. Moscow has made clear that it is no longer willing to tolerate EU “interference” in what it views as its internal affairs. And by leaking private diplomatic correspondence with France and Germany in the Normandy process, Russia has signaled its desire to shift responsibility for resolving the issue of Ukraine to the US. These developments have led to concerns over whether it remains possible to envisage a substantive relationship between the EU and Russia.
With Russia having amassed its forces on the Ukrainian border, three formats seem likely to dominate talks on the future of European security: US-Russia, NATO-Russia, and between Russia and individual EU member states. As a collective actor, the EU increasingly appears to be on the outside looking in. With Russia on Ukraine’s doorstep, and Ukraine itself continuing to face a series of domestic challenges, what can the EU do?
In conversation:
- Javier Solana, President of Esade Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics. Former EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Former Secretary General of NATO
- Steven Blockmans, Director, CEPS
Followed by a panel discussion:
- Roderich Kiesewetter, Member of the Bundestag, Representative of Foreign Affairs for the CDU/CSU caucus
- Volodymyr Ishchenko, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Institute of East European Studies, Freie Universität Berlin (FUB)
- Maria Shagina, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Zurich and Visiting Research Fellow at FIIA Helsinki
- Zach Paikin (Moderator), Researcher, CEPS
