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Published by EUobserver.com
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Wednesday, 07 November 2007 |
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EU split into several camps on Russia strategy
"...According to a fresh analysis by new thinktank European
Council on Foreign Relations, the EU "has begun to behave as if it were
subordinate to an increasingly assertive Russia" largely due to its own
disunity.
"Russia is emerging as an ideological alternative
to the EU (...) Whereas the EU stands for an idea of order based on consensus,
interdependence and the rule of law, Russian foreign policy is motivated by a
quest for power, independence and control."
The report notes that Russia is able to do this even
though the EU's combined economy is 15 times the size of Russia's, its military
budget is seven times higher, and its population three times the size of
Russia.
The analysis also dismisses the idea that the disunity
on Russia - an issue it says is the most "contentious" for the EU
since the Iraq war - has become worse since eastern European states joined in
2004.
"EU divisions on Russia are more complex and
surprising than a simple cleavage between old and new member states...."
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