Russia and the European Union: The U.S. Impact on the Relationship. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol.9 No.2, January 2009

Kanet, Roger E. (2009) Russia and the European Union: The U.S. Impact on the Relationship. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol.9 No.2, January 2009 .

Abstract

[From the Introduction]. Since the dissolution of the former Soviet Union in late 1991 a complex set of relations has evolved among the European Union, the Russian Federation, and the United States. The present discussion will focus mainly on the relationship between Russia and the EU. It is important at the very outset, however, to note that this relationship is complicated by the fact that generally Russia has attempted to ignore the existence of the EU and has dealt as much as possible with individual EU states – as has been the case in negotiations with Germany for the construction of Nord Stream gas pipeline directly from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, and those with Bulgaria concerning a similar pipeline, South Stream, under the Black Sea. In fact, in recent years the nature of relations with the Russian Federation has been a serious divisive issue within the European Union, as former communist states such as Poland and Estonia have strongly criticized their EU partners for downplaying the importance of what they view as a coercive Russian policy toward its neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe. The Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008 and the ensuring diplomatic recognition of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, have reinforced the concerns of the new members of the EU. So, in examining Russian-EU relations it will be important to recognize the fact that in foreign and security policy, even in the economic realm at times, the EU does not speak with a single voice, commitments to a Common Foreign and Security Policy notwithstanding. The European Union remains, therefore, a collection of sovereign states each of which – especially the larger ones – pursues its on relations with Russia.