Search on Ifri.org

About Ifri

Frequent searches

Suggestions

The EU, Russia and the Eastern Partnership: What Dynamics under the New German Government?

Papers
|
Date de publication
|
Référence taxonomie collections
Notes du Cerfa
Image de couverture de la publication
ndc109.jpg
Accroche

The Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November 2013 demonstrated that the European Union’s policy toward its eastern neighbors has developed into a highly contentious issue between the EU and Russia.

Corps analyses

The summit was overshadowed by the decision of the Ukrainian government not to sign an Association Agreement with the EU and the following mass demonstrations in Kyiv. This paper analyses the EU’s relations with the EaP countries and illustrates that all of them are torn between intensified relations with the EU and joining the Russian dominated Customs Union. Although the EU is rather reluctant to start a power game with Russia in the “shared neighborhood”, the EaP has without doubt led to strained EU-Russia relations. As will be illustrated, it is difficult on the EU level to constitute a clearly unified position on Russia. Among the explanatory factors is Germany, which has in the past often not aligned its position on Russia with its EU partners. German-Russian political relations, however, underwent a change since 2012, as the Merkel government has become more critical about political developments in Russia. Although the new “grand coalition” with Frank-Walter Steinmeier as foreign minister will pursue a more conciliatory tone toward the Kremlin than in the past two years, the German government is nevertheless likely to more closely align its position on Russia with its EU partners, and will also not shy away from criticizing the Kremlin if the Russian government attempts to undermine the EaP.

Dominik Tolksdorf is Transatlantic Post-Doctoral Fellow for International Relations and Security (TAPIR) at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri). He focuses in his research on the European Union’s external relations and particularly its pre-accession, neighborhood and crisis management policies.

This publication is available in:

French: UE, Russie et Partenariat oriental : quelles dynamiques sous le nouveau gouvernement allemand ? (pdf)

Russian: ЕС, Россия и Восточное партнёрство: новая динамика отношений при новом правительстве в Германии? (pdf)

 

 

Decoration

Available in:

Regions and themes

Régions

ISBN / ISSN

978-2-36567-243-6

Share

Download the full analysis

This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.

The EU, Russia and the Eastern Partnership: What Dynamics under the New German Government?

Decoration
Author(s)
Image principale
Russie, Eurasie, Carte
Russia/Eurasia Center
Accroche centre

Founded in 2005 within Ifri, the Russia/Eurasia Center conducts research and organizes debates on Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus. Its goal is to understand and anticipate the evolution of this complex and rapidly changing geographical area in order to enrich public discourse in France and Europe and to assist in strategic, political, and economic decision-making.

Image principale

Commanders of Putin's Long War: Purged, Reshuffled and Disgruntled

Date de publication
10 December 2024
Accroche

The trend of reshuffling the Russian top military command in the course of a fast-evolving and far from successful war has progressed unevenly both across the Armed Forces’ structures and in time. The rationale for and timing of the abrupt cadre decisions made by Commander-in-Chief Putin often defy logical explanation, and the rare official clarifications are no more informative than the usual information blackout. 

Image principale

Russian Military Manpower After Two and a Half Years of War in Ukraine

Date de publication
25 November 2024
Accroche

In addition to a military victory in Ukraine, the Russian leadership is planning to build up sizable troop formations for a possible conflict with NATO in the Baltic region and the Kola Peninsula. In particular, current plans aim for the military manpower to grow by about 350,000, reaching a total of 1.5 million soldiers and commanders. In the context of the current conflict in Ukraine, this cannot be accomplished without a new wave of mass mobilization. 

Image principale

Moldova’s Foreign Policy after 2024 Presidential Elections: Staying on the EU Path, Moving Eastwards or Becoming Multi-vector?

Date de publication
17 October 2024
Accroche

The future of Moldova’s foreign agenda will undergo a stress test during the upcoming presidential elections on October 20, 2024.

Image principale

Russian Strategic Thinking and Culture Before and After February 24, 2022: Political-Strategic Aspects

Date de publication
26 September 2024
Accroche

Written by Dimitri Minic, the scientific article "Russian Strategic Thinking and Culture Before and After February 24, 2022: Political-Strategic Aspects" in Russia’s war against Ukraine: Complexity of Contemporary Clausewitzian War by the National Defence University Department of Warfare, Helsinki 2024.

Related Subjects

How can this study be cited?

Image de couverture de la publication
ndc109.jpg
The EU, Russia and the Eastern Partnership: What Dynamics under the New German Government?, from Ifri by
Copy
Image de couverture de la publication
ndc109.jpg

The EU, Russia and the Eastern Partnership: What Dynamics under the New German Government?