The European Union and Russia are drifting apart - The question is: how to stop, and do they really want to stop?

 

GABRIELA TEIXEIRA explains and reflects on the tensions between the European Union and Russia. Could these two important actors in international affairs be near their breaking points regarding cooperation? Keep reading to find out more.

        In these past few years, the European Union (henceforth EU) and Russia have taken steps backward in their relationship – from sanctions imposed by the EU on Moscow in 2014 following the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the crisis in Ukraine, to the new EU sanctions on the Kremlin in 2021 due to the assassination attempt on Alexei Navalny in October 2020. These have contributed to the escalating tensions between these two neighboring blocks. Andrey Kortunov, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, says that in recent years the EU-Russia relationship has deteriorated in both time and space, and that while not ideal, Russia can maintain relations with individual EU member states and not the European Union itself. But what can be expected for the future? What is Russia's perspective on the new sanctions? What is the next move in the field of international cooperation?

        The recent event that has sparked friction between the two powers took place in October last year, when the Russian authorities attempted to assassinate Navalny – the leader of Russia’s largest opposition party – by using a poison that was frequently used in the Soviet Union. This was escalated through his imprisonment by the Russian police in January 2021, upon his return to his home country after receiving urgent medical treatment in Germany.

        Given this situation, the EU and Russia have shown two completely different approaches. As an advocate of international diplomacy, the EU decided to commission Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on a three-day official visit to Russia - something that had not happened since 2017 – to de-escalate the situation with the neighboring country and directly talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov, however, did not take this opportunity to cooperate - and perhaps re-engage - with the EU. Instead, during this visit Russian authorities expelled three European diplomats for allegedly participating in one of the protests for Navalny's release. Given the diplomatic failure of this visit and the clear lack of cooperation from Russia, the European Union has decided to sanction the Putin regime, through the so-called "EU Magnitsky Act". It gives the EU the power to sanction individuals - in this case, four Russian government officials - for human rights violations. Urmas Peat MEP said, "If a country is not following basic human rights and international law, there's no other option for EU nations”.

        Russia sees this as an overstepping of the EU on Russian law and a circus orchestrated by Borrell, since according to Putin, Navalny was not poisoned and did not respect his sentence by seeking asylum in Germany. Therefore, once returned to Russia he must serve his 2-year sentence in prison. Vladimir Chizhov, Russian Ambassador to the EU, says that these sanctions only delay an opportunity for reconciliation between the two powers. He also questions the legitimacy of the Union's sanctions against Russia in the international context.

        This problem raised by Russia is quite debated in international relations, and is invoked several times in moments of tension, because if states are sovereign, and if there is no international court, who holds the legitimacy to sanction? This question can be explained through the eyes of two theories: The Liberal Theory (Walt, 1998, p.32), which states that all conflicts can be resolved on the bases of international cooperation. Therefore, international institutions are the only ones with legitimacy to sanction one state over another (or in this case, concrete individuals of a state) and to regulate the flows of international power - something defended by the European Union. On the other hand, the Realist Theory (Walt, 1998, p.31) defended by Russia, stems from the Cold War era, and is based on the idea that states are independent in the international context, and thus each can intervene on another whenever it pleases them. This theory does not believe in the true meaning of international organizations and international cooperation to resolve conflicts between nation-states.

        But how can this power stalemate between the European Union and Russia be resolved? In good diplomacy, the best approach is to try to find a common ground where both powers cooperate and set aside their differences. That common ground can, and has been found in negotiations: in the Iranian nuclear deal, in which Russia played a key role; in the common vision between the two powers regarding a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and in the fact that - despite all the threats made by Andrey Kortunov - the EU remains Russia's largest trade and investment partner, representing 42% of Russian exports in 2019.

        However, the European Union's attitude towards Moscow will have to undergo some changes, not in terms of international diplomacy, but in terms of international strategy. Perhaps this would be a good time for Germany to rethink the Nord Stream 2 agreement it has with Moscow, which consists of a pipeline under construction, from Russia to Germany, in order to provide natural gas to the EU. Nevertheless, this pipeline is no longer necessary, since from the beginning of the construction of the pipeline (2005) until today, the price of natural gas has not only fallen by 45%, but there are new suppliers from the Mediterranean and North America. Opening the pipeline would only put the EU in a situation of dependence on the Putin regime. Perhaps the solution to this problem would be a bilateral alliance between the EU and the USA to show Russia that the EU has strong allies on its side and that it can reduce Moscow's exports by investing the money in other countries.

        In short, the EU needs to act firmly vis-à-vis the Putin regime and paradoxically, act less desperately, and let the Russian President contact the EU (and not the other way round). However, things seldom change overnight, and the EU should not be realistically waiting for Russia's complete openness. But there is a minimum level of cooperation and diplomacy expected by the Union, that has so far not been met by the Kremlin - such actions destabilize the international community and the smooth functioning between nations. The European project is at its genesis a project for peace, and therefore it is always intended to ensure good diplomatic relations between nations. However, when countries like Russia disrespect the international order and human rights they must be sanctioned.

        It is essential to stress once again that cooperation is attenable and that the start of a new EU-Russia alliance should be based on common issues of international affairs, external to both Russian and EU domestic politics.

Additional references:

Walt, Stephen M. (1998). International Relations: One World, Many Theories. Foreign Policy, No. 110, Special Edition: Frontiers of Knowledge.

Cover image source: L'Indro