The divisive nature of the ‘Russian issue’ among the member states and also within each of them has become an acute problem for the EU External Action
The place of Russia in the upcoming EU Global Strategy (EUGS) is one of the most challenging and pressing issues in the reviewing endeavor undertaken by the EU High Representative, Federica Mogherini. The critical relevance of Russia in terms of EU’s security, energy supply and overall strategic reach can hardly be underestimated. However, the annexation of Crimea, the Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine, the subsequent European sanctions and Russian counter-sanctions have dragged the relationship between the EU and Russia to its lowest point.
The divisive nature of the ‘Russian issue’ among the member states and also within each of them has become an acute problem for the EU External Action. Given the cleavages and related problems how can the EU design and implement a truly common position and policies towards Russia? Which line/approach should be adopted by the EU about Russia in the EUGS? And, either the EU adopts a hard (hawkish), soft (dove) or mid-line (owl) how to make it sustainable and coherent?
>> Working language: English with no simultaneous interpretation
Gero Maass, Director, Madrid Office, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES)
Jordi Bacaria, Director, CIDOB, Barcelona
Francisco de Borja Lasheras, Associate Director and Policy Fellow, ECFR, Madrid
Chair: Cristina Manzano, Director, esglobal, Madrid
Fernando Valenzuela, Senior Adviser for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Directorate of External Policy and Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Madrid
Nicu Popescu, Senior Analyst, EUISS, Paris
Francisco de Borja Lasheras, Associate Director and Policy Fellow, ECFR, Madrid
Chair: María Pallares, Programme Coordinator, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Madrid
Gustav Gressel, Visiting Fellow, ECFR, Berlin
James Nixey, Head, Russia and Eurasia Program, Chatham House, London
Nicolás de Pedro, Research Fellow, CIDOB, Barcelona
Peter Pomerantsev, Senior Fellow, the Legatum Institute, London
Chair: Carmen Claudín, Associate Senior Research Fellow, CIDOB, Barcelona
Irina Kobrinskaya, Head, Center for Situation Analysis, IMEMO, Moscow
Elena Alekseenkova, Program Manager,Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC),Research Fellow at Centre for Global Problems Studies, MGIMO-University, Moscow
Boris Frumkin Head of Department, the Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences (IE RAS), Moscow
Natalia Zubarevich,Professor, Department of Geography, Moscow State University,Director, Regional Program, the Independent Institute for Social Policy, Moscow
