THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
photo: ©Ekaterina Belova - stock.adobe.com
Russia is a Transatlantic-European partner, but the West is continuously failing to accept it as such The world is too complex for every country to adhere to the same political recipes
by Vladimir A. Chizhov, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, Brussels
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hough relations between Russia and the West have always been a complex story of ups and downs, one should not forget that from the outset we have been sincerely interested in developing cooperation with Transatlantic and European partners, NATO and the EU. Regretfully, our relations with both of these entities are now, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted, in a deplorable state.
From a strategic partner to an adversary? Yet life proves that the West’s current shift of perception of Russia– from a strategic partner to an adversary, let alone “enemy”, can only lead to a dead end. The reason is that Russia is one of the very few countries in the world that has the privilege of being a self-sufficient power, a state that can afford an independent foreign policy. Clearly, this is a disconcerting fact for a number of actors on the international stage. Wide-spread negative labelling of Russia and its actions, together with a cherished but false sense of exceptionalism, stand in stark contrast to the principles of tolerance, respect and acceptance of different views considered as a cornerstone of Western culture. These conclusions, however, do not imply that all the current international threats are only a matter of Russia-Transatlantic or Russia-EU relations. The world we live in is diverse and multipolar, no matter how much some politicians – not to speak of some generals – seek to prove otherwise…. The current state of relations between Russia and the West has
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been exacerbated by several factors, among them the domestic crisis in Ukraine, the reckless military adventure in Libya, which led to the collapse of a normally functioning state, not to mention Syria to which the same fate had been prescribed, but was luckily avoided, albeit with some help from Russia. As for the most recent example, Afghanistan, there is no need here to rehearse once again what we already know. The only thing I would like to emphasise in this regard is that, as Chinese philosophy postulates, this crisis, as much as any other, has the potential to open a window of opportunity for all members of the international community, and, hopefully too, for the Afghan people themselves.
What is the future of European independence? The EU, for instance, has a chance to re-evaluate the essence and meaning of its strategic autonomy without being blinded by the euphoria of having a new Administration in Washington. The worrying trend however is that its political and military independence is being eroded by its strategic partnership with NATO, with as many as 74 joint proposals currently on the table aiming to merge the defence dimension of the two organisations. Most European defence initiatives are becoming aligned on US and NATO military planning priorities. Three non-EU countries (US, Canada, and Norway) were recently approved as partners in Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects. Any further developments of this kind are likely to further strengthen the already dominant American position in the European defence market. Cooperation on command and control structures, including on countering “hybrid” threats, is being built up, joint cyber capabilities are being strengthened.
