by
N. Peter Kramer
Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, is not only a fellow conservative but also from a country that, like her native East Germany, cast off Soviet Communist domination in 1989. That Tusk, a former Solidarity activist and anti-communist politician, is not really averse a new ‘cold war’ became clear, when he said that ‘the biggest challenge today is the Russian approach, not only to Ukraine but also to the EU”. Grist to Ms Merkel’s mill.
However, Mr. Tusk’s firm anti-Russia line masked the differences in the Council he has to chair. Big memberstates such as France and Italy, but also many smaller ones (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia for instance), are eager to ease the sanctions against Russia at the first sign of Russian cooperation to stabilise eastern Ukraine. Those divergences between hawks and doves in the Council may already widen at the next summit in March when the EU leaders have to review the curbs on finance, arms sales and technology transfer imposed initially for 12 months.
Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy high representative, will chair on January 19 in Brussels an EU foreign ministers strategic discussion on Russia to prepare the discussions in the summit. She said: ‘we have to open a direct debate with Moscow on our mutual relations and the role that Russia plays in other crises, in Syria, Iran, Middle East, Libya’.
What’s the position of Germany? Ms. Merkel said after the summit that sanctions only can be lifted if Russia gives up conquered territories in Ukraine. Her faithful right hand, finance minister Wolfgang Schauble confirmed that recently, ‘in spite of the rouble crisis in Russia’. But Germany’s foreign minister, the socialist Frank-Walter Steinmeier put forward an opposite opinion: ‘’Anyone who wants to bring the Russian economy to its knees is completely mistaken if they think that this will bring about greater security in Europe’.
2015 looks like becoming another interesting year for the EU …
