In his concluding remarks Maciej Popowski, deputy secretary general of the European External Action Service (EEAS) asked the Forum participants a number of questions about the future of the EU-Russia relationship. He raised the issue of combining ongoing positive change with stability in the efforts to reform entire countries. He also addressed the positively evolving relationship between the EEAS’s Catherine Ashton and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, with both making deeper commitments, especially in the wake of the Arab Spring. Finally, he discussed the question of visa-free travel between the EU and Russia, but warned against political shortcuts in achieving that and other goals.