Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Russian-Ukrainian relations are now back to normal. That means that the sides disagree.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

For a few years already the main street of Minsk has been called the Avenue of Independence. Since this is the major artery linking the city with its international airport and, most importantly, the Moscow highway, renaming of the street was an unmistakable signal to the external world about Belarus’s priority – to be viewed as a truly independent country, definitely friendly towards Russia, but no less definitely separate from it.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

In recent years the stagnation in relations between the European Union and Russia has become obvious to all independent observers. Of course, routines are followed, summits are held twice a year and diplomatic niceties are regularly said. But in practice the picture looks as follows.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Today, the nations that once lived under the Communist rule differ strongly. Some have successfully completed the transition towards market economy and liberal democracy. Some still hope to achieve this goal. Some found the transition to be mission impossible and have essentially established sultanist regimes, even hereditary.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

In recent years a lot was said about Russia’s resurgence. While some commentators are paying more attention to its rediscovered readiness to use force to back up the political statements, which culminated in the war with Georgia, others point out to the soft power in Moscow’s possession.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

In early April the European parliament adopted Recommendation to the Council on the new EU-Russia agreement. This is a comprehensive and honest document, full of concerns as regards the state of relations between the EU and Russia. And these concerns are worth sharing.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

In recent months one could witness an unprecedented amount of high-level contacts between European organizations and Belarus, which culminated in a February trip to Minsk of EU top foreign policy official, Javier Solana. Apparently, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko returned to the EU list of “handshake-worthy” foreign leaders.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

It is, actually, very good that Europeans have holidays at the end and not in the beginning of the year. Otherwise some top EU bureaucrats would have to interrupt their vacations, just as their Russian and Ukrainian colleagues do, to deal with yet another energy conflict between Moscow and Kiev - a trouble as habitual and annoying these days as a snowless New Year’s night.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

It is axiomatic that Russia-EU relations at the moment have dualist nature. One does not need to be an expert to say that, on the one hand, the parties are engaged into a relationship of critical economic interdependence coupled with a well-developed and institutionalized bureaucratic interaction, but that, on the other hand, the value gap between the two is growing and, consequently, the ability to agree on fundamental policy issues is decreasing.

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Arkady Moshes
ohjelmajohtaja - Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

Venäjä alueellisessa ja globaalissa kontekstissa -tutkimusohjelma

This is the title of an analytical report published this week on the web-site of the Russian INDEM Foundation, mostly known outside the country for its work on Russian corruption. The paper outlines several scenarios of Russian political development.

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