Carnegie Moscow Center
The Polish-German joint letter calling on the EU to revamp its policy on Russia is a milestone in the two countries’ common policy toward Moscow. If this cooperation lasts, it could reshape politics both within the EU as well with its Eastern neighbors.
While Ukraine’s leadership continues to emphasize the importance of the country’s alignment with Europe, recent domestic developments paint a very different picture.
Russians should not expect modernization to be initiated from the top. Nor can a modern economy develop in Russia without reforming its political institutions, such as elections, the courts, and the law enforcement agencies.
Vladimir Putin’s plans to create an economically integrated Eurasian Union could give Russia an opportunity to become a real regional leader, so long as Eurasian economic is voluntary and Moscow’s partners do not see the process as an attempt at political domination.
Poland, a non-eurozone member holding the rotating EU presidency for the first time, faces difficulty pushing ahead its agenda because of the eurozone crisis. The crisis also risks diminishing the successes the Polish presidency has achieved thus far.
If Kyiv does not reconsider its course on the political trial and verdict of Yulia Tymoshenko, it could mean an end to Ukraine's possibilities of deeper integration with the EU.
Russia is no longer an empire, but it is not yet a nation-state either. To be seen as a great power in the twenty-first century, it has to reform its institutions and economy and become a great country.
The harsh verdict for former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko demonstrates that Ukraine’s leadership prioritizes removing the opposition’s strongest candidate before parliamentary elections above good relations with the West.
Poland’s relatively successful foreign policy contributed to the popularity of the ruling Civic Platform party and helped it win the country’s parliamentary elections. Given these election results, the Polish foreign policy is not likely to change.
While the Eastern Partnership summit is unlikely to deliver many positive results, there are still important lessons that leaders from both sides can take away from the summit.