British Prime Minister David Cameron used Poles as an example of people who abuse UK’s social help and proposed restricting the freedom of movement within the EU. Though Cameron might have problems at home, he should not destroy the unity of Europeans, who still believe in the EU.
The Eurasian Economic Union had start negotiations with the EU on specific ways to liberalize mutual economic transactions without compromising its statehood. The forthcoming EU-Russia Summit is an opportune venue to launch such an idea.
The Russia-EU summits are basically a relic of the 1990’s when there was still hope to integrate Russia into Europe’s normative framework. Now it is high time to end the protocol routine and move on to expert negotiations on specific issues.
In 2013, Poland got a chance to position itself as a major player within the EU, although “its” Eastern Partnership initiative did not fulfill the expectations. In 2014, Warsaw’s foreign policy—if conducted correctly—could be great for Poland from the image perspective.
By pretty much any historical standards, the wider Europe at the dawn of 2014 is incredibly peaceful. However, peace in Europe should be a signal not for Panglossian optimism but for redoubled Europeans to be vigilant against the risk of new conflicts, large and small.
This year’s top three “men of the year” include Pope Francis, Vladimir Putin, and Edward Snowden. But if the “people who made history in 2013” were to be chosen, it should be the actual people—those Ukrainians who have gathered in the Kiev Independence Square.
The Russian-Ukrainian economic agreements look like Putin’s victory, but the Kremlin will have to deal with an array of powerful opponents. The battle for Ukraine has entered a new stage.
Not only in Russia where ideologists use the issue of homosexual rights as a dividing line between the East and the West, but in some other post-communist states as well the European agenda on gay and lesbian rights is not shared by the majority of population.
