Russia is the biggest neighbour of the European Union – and one of its most important but also challenging partners. The 2004 Enlargement brought Russia closer to the EU’s borders. The EU and Russia share not only the same neighbourhood, but also a large number of global and regional security challenges. With its growing economy, by now the 10th largest in the world, Russia is an important market for EU goods and services. Over the past 15 years, the EU and Russia have developed a dense network of political institutions and diplomatic contacts. Economic interdependence has grown stronger as well, with the EU becoming Russia’s most important foreign trade partner, and Russia becoming the EU’s largest energy supplier.
In its Security Strategy, the EU counts Russia among those key global players with whom it intends to develop a strategic partnership. At the same time, however, the mutual relationship is characterised by disagreements over domestic developments in Russia, the right of the EU to comment on them, and the clash over diverging models of regional governance in the ‘common neighbourhood’. Often, Brussels and Moscow find themselves on opposite sides of the fence on issues of global security relevance. All this has a negative impact on the development of EU-Russian relations
The mission of the EUISS regarding EU-Russia relations is twofold. Firstly, the EUISS provides up-to-date analysis of Russia’s domestic and foreign policy. Secondly, the EUISS functions as a hub for communication and exchange between policymakers, civil society actors and experts from the EU and Russia, in order to increase knowledge and understanding on both sides of the EU-Russian border.
Coinciding with the Russian presidential elections, the EUISS has published a report in which a group of Russian authors explore the challenge faced by Russia’s political elite from a rapidly evolving society. The report examines the recent protests and the need for political reform and assesses how the gap between state and society has undermined the legitimacy of the ruling class.
What scenarios lie ahead for Russia after the March 2012 presidential elections? The authors of this paper define potential ‘game changers’ and provide conclusions as to which post-election scenarios might be more favourable to Russia, and to the European Union.
In this quarter's issue, The Economist's Anton La Guardia proposes a unique role for the EU in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Nicola Casarini says the EU should get more involved in East Asia, and Álvaro de Vasconcelos forwards the case for better preventing conflict.
A thaw in the frosty EU-Russia relationship has been occurring over the last year. But with Russia’s cheerier tone being buoyed by strategic gains in its neighbourhood, the EU should be under no illusion about Russia’s agenda.
In this piece, the author ponders on how the high-speed Sapsan trains can be seens as a parable of the Russian leadership's superficial notion of modernisation.
The EUISS set up its Russia Task Force in April 2007. This group of Russia experts and officials from Brussels and EU member states meets on a regular basis in order to reflect on developments in Russian domestic politics and foreign policy and to formulate policy recommendations for the EU.
The Russia Task Force Meeting on 18 January 2008 was the first of two meetings dealing with the Russian Parliamentary and Presidential elections, and their implications for Russian foreign policy, and Russia-EU relations in particular.
The EUISS organised this workshop on 23 April 2007 in Paris with the aim of setting up a Russia Task Force, which will meet twice a year and discuss topical issues in Russia's domestic and international affairs. The programme of the first meeting focused mainly on three issues: Russia's domestic situation one year before the Presidential elections and the probable end of Vladimir Putin's term in office; recent changes in Russia's foreign policy; and policy options for the EU against the backdrop of domestic and foreign policy developments. The group of participants included experts from different EU member states and representatives of EU institutions as well as Foreign Ministries.
This article [was] published by Simon Saradzhyan [...] and [...] Nabi Abdullaev with the European Union Institute for Security Studies in May and presented at Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Countries.
