Relations with Post-War Russia; a Mirror for Europe?

Szabolcs Szalay | Issue 6 | Comment, Magazine

From the Archive

Angela_Merkel_and_Vladimir_Putin_(2017-07-07)

Foreign policy planning has never been the strong asset of the European Union

Russia’s recent military losses and withdrawals in Ukraine have prompted an intense discourse about the perspectives of a post-war, and perhaps, post-Putin Russia. Although an eventual change in the Kremlin could be expected, it is still hard to predict how it might look like. Even if the United States, the European Union and several European governments, including the British, French, German or Polish have voiced their support to Ukraine as long as it takes to defeat Russia, we have to remember that we are not in 1945 and Russia is not Hitler’s Germany. Ukrainian victory will certainly not mean that Western powers will have absolute control over what is going to happen to the country with the largest territory in the world. This fact gives some uncertainty to all projections. Any discussion about Russia’s future leadership may be premature, but it is high time we pinpointed the issues that can shape Europe’s policy towards Russia. Foreign policy planning has never been a strong asset ...

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