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Need for new agreement with Europe not clear

All long-term strategies which only the lazy fail to write about these days share one big but, writes Konstantin Simonov, general director of Russia's National Energy Security Foundation. They do not always take into account the general situation that will emerge in the world in 20 years' time. For example, if a struggle for resources leads to a global military conflict, this will have a serious impact on local strategies. It may be alarmist or panic-mongering, but it is a worrying sign that our foreign policy planning is beset with such problems.

Now discussions are continuing on the need to sign a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Europe. But the need is not clear. Gas and oil will go on pouring into the EU without any PCA. As for a visa-free regime, we will not be given it for love or money.

So who is there is Europe to negotiate with? Should we seek cooperation with a united Europe or set our sights on individual countries? This is not a new question, nor is it a trivial one. So far, both official bodies and our companies have preferred to work with individual states and national corporations, rather than with Brussels, because its prospects and powers are not entirely clear.

Europe feverishly wants to look strong. After the failure of a series of national referendums on the European Constitution, an uncertain method was adopted, that of asking parliaments not populations to ratify the Lisbon Agreement. But the only exception - Ireland - at once created more problems. Some democratic politicians urged its expulsion from the EU, and others freezing ratification of the agreements in their countries, as happened in Poland. France, before assuming the rotating EU presidency, suggested the idea of a Mediterranean Union, whose founding summit is scheduled for July 13.

The participation of northern Africa in such structures raises another cliched but unanswered question about Europe's borders. Should we, for example, consider Ukraine part of Europe, when it is ready to resume the "unauthorized siphoning" of gas supplied to Europe? Or Turkey and Russia might have played in the final of the European football championship, creating a very piquant situation. It is also curious that migrants from Eastern Europe speaking broken Russian warmly greeted Russia's fans in Austria - for them Russia's football successes marked a symbolic victory over the employers from Old Europe. One can imagine the response of the Turks living in Germany to a victory of their team in the semi-finals.

Europe is finding it increasingly hard to keep down xenophobic and nationalist sentiments. British blocks access to its labor market even to new EU members. In Italy, camps of Romanian resettlers are torched. In Budapest, gay parades are dispersed. Overall, our values will soon look the same.

Source: Vedomosti (What the Russian papers say, RIA Novosti) - July 08, 2008


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