Improving Cooperation Between Russian Federation and the European Union

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 different countries. It consists of about half a billion citizens, and its combined economy represents about 20 percent of the world’s total economy (Briney, 2015). Today The European Union works as a single market, with free movement of people, goods and services from one country to another. There is a standard system of laws to be followed, and since 1999 many countries share a single currency called the Euro (Europa.eu, 2015). This essay will explore the background history of the European Union and the benefits and drawbacks of the European Union.

Since 1950 European Union (EU) was created it has promoted peace, prosperity and values among the member nations and its neighbouring countries. EU’s influential tools, has helped transform many European states into functioning democracies and prosperous countries. EU’s membership has grown from 6 to 28 countries (Enlargement, 2014), satisfying a historic vow to integrate the continent bringing in most states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by peaceful ideals.EU has anticipated the enlargement as an extraordinary opportunity to endorse political strength and economic success in Europe. EU’s extension policy is open to any European state that fulfils the EU’s political and financial criteria for membership; still the political process of inclusion of new state requires a unanimous agreement from all the existing 28 member states. Europe is considered to be more flourishing and safer place due to the promotion of democracy, anti-corruption policy and the single market policy.

The foreign policies of Russia also compliments in many ways its domestic policies, both in the apparent want for dominance and security in the focal point on sovereignty. These aims lead to an importance on bringing back Russia’s international status and removing positions of power that Western states have had in Russia

For example, Russia helped to clear unexploded ordnance left behind by NATO’s bombing during the Kosovo war of 1999, and in 2014, helped fly in emergency relief when floods hit the region. Since then, Russia has regularly been helping with forest fires, providing tents for migrants and training emergency responders. To the citizens, Russia’s consistent involvement, on top of its historically strong ties, creates a sense of trust and goodwill. This also increases their likelihood of buying into Russian propaganda against the West. Although the EU has provided $3.16bn in aid since 2000, an amount that dwarfs Russia’s in comparison, a recent poll showed that Serbs wrongly believe Russia to be one of their main benefactor and 64% view NATO as a threat. However, this does not mean that Serbia is entirely pro-Russia, as 40% of the population is in favour of joining the EU.

This week’s reading focused on the changes that took place in the Russian Federation after the presidency of George W. Bush. In class and previous readings, we got a teaser about how the start of the Obama administration in 2008 allowed for a “reset” in relations between the United States and Russia. This second portion of Elkin’s Russia Turns the Page: Historic Sketches of the End of the Post-Soviet Period: A History of the New Russia in 2007-2014. Sheds light on the events that are currently some of the most pressing issues for both nations. In addition, Elkin’s ability to offer an “insider” perspective on some of the varying power dynamics within the Russian Federation made for a very unique read.

Russian Federation has a long and interesting history. Many different events the structure and development of the country. Nowadays, Russia plays one of the most important roles in our world. Russia is located at the intersection of different cultures and contains multinational population and ethno-cultural diversity. Russia is an interesting country to discuss its issues of ethnicity and religion, try to predict the future development and economics of the country. How different country’s issues such as class distinction, equity and equality, race, religion, nationalism and other political variables are solved or considered by the state at least. The main goal of this work is to show weaknesses and struggles which Russia faces on the road

Over the course of 100 years, European countries had been locked in land battles with one another. Stating this, many European countries have chosen to ally with one another to provide each other support in order to achieve their goals. Although this was not exclusive to the European countries, more often than not Europeans also formed alliances with outside countries, America coming to mind. Consequently, these chain of events have lead to the ‘Treaty Alliance System’, where alliances have been formed to protect their lands and interests. The Treaty Alliance System comes into play when the tensions between Serbia and

The Soviet Union was a socialist state located on the Eurasian continent, which existed from 1922 to 1991. It was a conglomeration of a number of subnational Soviet republics with its government and economy centralized. The Soviet Union was based on a one-party system under the governorship of the Communist Party, with Moscow as its capital. Since the decline of the Soviet Union, Russia has been on the forefront seeking to bring about a resurgence of the socialist state. Current political events in Europe and in particular, those that revolve around Russia, demonstrate efforts directed towards reviving the Soviet Union. In more than one occasion, news releases have alleged that Vladimir Putin has plans underway to reignite the Soviet Union gradually and that the annexation of Crimea is evidence of this. In an article, journalist Adam Withnall noted that “…Vladimir Putin will not stop trying to expand Russia until he has “conquered” Belarus, the Baltic states and Finland,” (para. 1). Thus, there is increased tension in countries around the region, which was initially considered as being part of the Soviet Union. In truth, the Ukrainian revolution is demonstrative of Russia’s attempt to reignite the Soviet Union following the acquisition of Crimea, which will result to limiting the influence and expansion of NATO and the United States in Europe. Thus, Russia’s motivation to expand her influence

The two countries, Russia and Ukraine, had different reactions towards the armed violence and impeachment of the Ukrainian president. Although the majority of the Ukrainians opposed Viktor’s decision to procrastinate the signing the EU-Ukraine integration agreement, all the ex-presidents accused for its interference with the affairs of Crimean. The former presidents of Ukraine, including Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma described the present crisis as Russia’s political interventions designed to interfere with the internal affairs of Ukraine and its relationship with the European Union (Hanschke 1). The people of Crimea have not been seeking for secession from Ukraine, but their interest is to have extended autonomy and rights to govern the Crimean affairs with minimum involvement of the government of Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, have dismissed the accusation and stated that it is pursuing the interest of the people of Crimea to join the Federation of Russia. Russia holds that the people of Crimea have the power to decide the future of their territory and Russia will be ready to respect their decision. Study shows that about 90

The catastrophes of the past are the foundation of the future, events that occurred in the past cause people to envision a “better life” of not only for themselves but a society as a whole. By envisioning a better future individual rose up, advocated ideas, and policies that they believed would help in advancing their countries. For the purpose of this course, let us discuss the uprising of the Russian government and the European Council; both as single entities have their own goals, but collectively they seek to benefit their country(‘s) and promote prosperity, but through history and the changes of power has that aim been reached? Or if it is already has reached it, will these forms of government fail?

The Eastern Enlargement was, and remains, a point of dispute when arguing the costs and benefits. It provided numerous opportunities for the EU, but with them came challenges, some of which could be argued were too much and too soon for the EU. This chapter will engage the major costs and benefits in the way they were presented by dominant theories of EU enlargement and integration. Furthermore, it will challenge the theories by putting them side by side with the observed changes that followed the Enlargement. To provide a clearer picture this will be done under two broad headings; economic and political.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949 as a means of collective security for the West to defend against the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO seemed to have lost a main reason for existing. As former Eastern Bloc nations expressed interest in participating in NATO operations or even joining, Russia became steadily uneasy. When evaluating their response to NATO expansion in the 1990’s, did Russia act in an offensive or defensive manner? J.L. Black presents a plethora of primary accounts of the years encompassing NATO expansion to give the reader an idea exactly what the Russian government was thinking at the time. It seems clear that NATO expansion caused

From the end of the Second World War, Turkey has enjoyed its position as the West’s (especially America’s) strategic security bastion as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against Communist threats. According to Oguzlu (2002), in the post-Cold War period, Turkey and its elites still view it’s relation to other entities, especially the EU, as that of a strategic security partner. He makes the point that an often used Turkish argument wherein if EU members desire to turn the EU into a global security actor with interests in Turkey’s vicinity, they would push more strongly for Turkey’s admittance into the EU.

The political relations between Ukraine and Russia as the two independent subjects of international relations were established in 1991 after the eighth December of the same year signed the Belavezha agreement between Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, which marked the end of the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as " subject of international law and geopolitical reality "and the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. From that moment we can talk about the beginning of the existence of full political relations between Russia and Ukraine.

The European Union (EU) was established in order to prevent the horrors of modern warfare, experienced by most of Europe during the World Wars of the 20th century, from ever ensuing again, by aiming to create an environment of trust with the countries of Europe cooperating in areas such as commerce, research and trade (Adams, 2001). The EU has evolved into an economic, trade, political and monetary alliance between twenty-eight European Member States. While not all Member States are in monetary union (i.e. share the currency of the euro), those that are form the ‘Euro-zone’ (Dinan, 2006). The EU can pass a number of types of legislation, with a regulation, act, or law, being the most powerful. Its ‘tricameral’ (European Union, 2007)