beyondukraine.euandrussiainsearchofanewrelation

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28 Beyond Ukraine. EU and Russia in Search of a New Relation European unity, currently inseparable from the leadership of Chancellor Merkel, rests on fragile foundations and will be put to the test whether the Minsk truce fails or not. So within the framework of developing a new EU foreign policy strategy and the revision of the neighbourhood policy, including the Eastern Partnership, an in-depth discussion in Brussels on how to address relations with Russia and its neighbours becomes an urgent necessity. It would be wise not to repeat what in 1994 Peter van Hamm already identified as a serious mistake, namely the inclination of the Western governments to adopt a Moscowcentred approach and “with a few exceptions consider Soviet successor states in terms of those states’ relations with Russia” 19 . A democratic Ukraine would be a denial of Putinism: it would demonstrate that there is no such thing as an Eastern Slavic specialness that endows with legitimacy a model of democracy specific to some Russian tradition. Hence supporting Ukraine in laying the ground for a functional and sustainable rule of law is also one of the more coherent ways to pave the ground for a democratic future for Russia and for a more stable European security order. The European Union has now acquired towards Ukraine a responsibility that was certainly not on its agenda, for all Russia’s claims to the contrary. Business as usual is gone for a long time. Ukraine now is a key test for the EU’s credibility in its European neighbourhood and for its ability to conceive a way to coexist and interact with contemporary Russia without losing its very raison d’être. 19 P. van Ham, Ukraine, Russia and European security: implications for Western policy, Chaillot Paper, no. 13, 1 February 1994, http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/cp013e.pdf.
2. EU-Russia: What Went Wrong? Aldo Ferrari According to the prevailing wisdom in the West, the Ukraine crisis can be blamed almost entirely on Russian aggression. […] But this account is wrong: the United States and its European allies share most of the responsibility for the crisis 1 . These words, written by a leading U.S. scholar, can be considered the necessary starting point for the resumption of relations between Russia and the West, particularly the EU. In fact the idea that the responsibility of the deterioration of these relations completely depends on Moscow appears largely groundless and affects not only the correct awareness of reality but above all the possibility of finding a way out. The resumption of political cooperation between Russia and the West (particularly the European Union) should begin with the understanding that the present-day Ukrainian crisis is the latest result of a deep and growing mutual misunderstanding. After the end of the USSR both Russia and the West have been disappointed in their hopes regarding the counterparty. Moscow expected that, after the ideological confrontation that characterized the Cold War, the West would have looked to Russia without suspicion, in a spirit of complete trust and strategic cooperation. Which is clearly not the case. On the other hand, Russia did not set itself on the path of 1 J. Mearsheimer, “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault. The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin”, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2004, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141769/john-j-mearsheimer/why-theukraine-crisis-is-the-wests-fault?cid=nlc-foreign_affairs_this_week-090414why_the_ ukraine_crisis_is_the_5090414&sp_mid=46900441&sp_rid=YWxkby5mZXJyYXJp QHVuaXZlLml0S0.
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