CIAO DATE: 03/05

What Russia sees

Abstract

The Cold War is finally ending in Europe and the shape of a new order is visible. Certainly, its institutional structure is different from that of the bipolar era or even the transition years of the 1990s. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is assuming a more global profile and less direct responsibility in Europe itself. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has entered a deep crisis, in which major participating states are challenging its enduring utility. Meanwhile, a new organisation is emerging as the continent's security provider—the European Union (EU). With enlargement in 2004, a new Europe has been born, founded around the ambitions and values of the EU. So much is clear.

What is less clear is the place of Russia in the emerging order. What is the role of Russia in the new Europe? How does Russia view such developments? What policies will Russia adopt in Europe and the new shared neighbourhood?

The new neighbourhood that the EU and Russia now share has become the front line in Russian-European relations. Nowhere was this more evident than during the crisis in Ukraine in late 2004. If anything, the EU-Russia summit at The Hague revealed this fault line. Planned initially for early November, Moscow requested that the summit be postponed until 25 November in order to introduce the new Commission to its proceedings. The real reason was not procedural. In fact, the EU and Russia had not reached common ground on 'road maps' for the four common 'spaces', which were put forward at the St Petersburg summit in 2003 (a common economic space; freedom, justice and security; external security; and research and education).

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