The European Union and Russia after Georgia

The European Union and Russia after Georgia

"The European Union and Russia after Georgia

RussiaThe lesson of the Georgia-Russia crisis for the European Union is to learn from past mistakes and develop a distinct, long-term foreign-policy strategy, says Paul Gillespie.

The European Union has taken a measured route between Vladimir Putin's Moscow and Dick Cheney's Washington in its combination of refusing to impose sanctions on Russia after its military and diplomatic actions in Georgia while firmly setting a test for Moscow over the next two months about its willingness to cooperate with other Europeans.

Instead of the widely canvassed divisions at the emergency summit on 1
September 2008, there was a surprising consensus about how to proceed between harder and softer positions. The crisis emphasises what is at stake in creating a more coherent EU foreign policy; the importance of doing so; and the marked contrast between European Union and United States approaches to European security."