A Progressive EU strategy towards Russia

Closed-door event, Tuesday, 24th November 2020

EU-Russia relations have been seriously strained since 2014. Core unresolved issues such as the Ukraine crisis, the imposition of sanctions, the MH-17 case and the Navalny poisoning have led relations between the two regional powers into a dead-end street. The current situation, characterised by mutual mistrust and tension, has proven to be acutely detrimental for both sides. If we want to overcome the current impasse, we not only need to rebuild trust between the EU and Russia but we need to have an internal debate to get a clearer sense of what a progressive foreign policy for the European Union’s relationship with Russia and the East could look like in the short-, medium- and long-term.

This event is part of a FEPS-led initiative to examine the state of the EU–Russia relationship, to forge a better understanding of its defining factors and herewith to embark on a mission to propose paths that could make the EU-Russia partnership work better in the future. The roundtable discussion will provide a space and opportunity to take stock of both our internal differences and common interests as European progressives and social democrats with regards to Russia and the lands in between, and on that basis, aims to provide future avenues for a new EU-Russia engagement.

This event is organised by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe (FES ROCPE), the Fondation Jean Jaurès (FJJ), the Karl-Renner-Institut (RI), the Fondazione Gramsci, the Foundation Max Van der Stoel (FMS) and the Foundation Amicus Europae (AE).