EU summit: No love greetings to Moscow

Merkel and Macron wanted to offer Putin talks – without consulting other EU countries. No wonder that went wrong, says Alexander Goebel. The EU must redefine its relationship with Russia, but confidently and with preconditions.

Krisjanis Karins is upset. Karins is the Prime Minister of Latvia, and as such he looks on the one hand very nervous at the behavior of its big neighbor Russia, on the other hand he feels taken by surprise by Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron: Because these two wanted to offer talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin – Now, of all times, when relations between the EU and Moscow are at a low point and the Kremlin prefers to tear down bridges rather than build new ones.

It goes without saying that this caused a stir at the EU summit: Merkel and Macron had not discussed their move – neither with the Baltic states, nor with Poland or the other EU countries. Apparently the Commission and the Council President were not in the know either.

Evoked rejection itself

Merkel and Macron snubbed everyone, the Franco-German engine ran over many, especially the Russians-sensitive Balts and Poles. No wonder that the advance from Berlin and Paris for a meeting at the highest level at the EU summit was rejected. It is only astonishing that Merkel and Macron practically conjured up such a rejection themselves.

This has caused damage that can only be repaired with a lot of persuasion. And with a new attempt, which the Commission is now to work out: a mixture of toughness and willingness to engage in dialogue.

Because: It is right and urgently necessary to redefine the course towards Putin – and with more courage. With coordinated sanctions, but also with the aim of initiating a top EU meeting with Putin.

Talk to Putin? Who annexes the Crimea, stirs up war in eastern Ukraine, has opposition members like Alexei Navalny poisoned and imprisoned?

Yes. Because what would the alternative be in the medium term? The rather lame Russia strategy, recently presented by the EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell, is not one – it comes rather as an inventory of the bad relations and does not serve to redefine the relationship with Russia and, above all, to self-confidently.

Not a humble dialogue

Of course, Brussels is not allowed to send greetings to Moscow. It cannot be a humble dialogue without preconditions – and here, too, the warning from the Latvian Prime Minister Karins must be taken very seriously: the Kremlin does not see concessions without consideration as a sign of strength.

One thing is clear: it is not enough to hide behind the USA. When US President Joe Biden speaks to Putin, as he did recently in Geneva, that must also be the EU’s goal. What kind of signal would that be if the EU waived this right? It would be a self-dwelling of the EU, and one that would then play into the hands of exactly such autocrats as Putin.

According to the motto: the EU does not know what it wants, some take the others by surprise, in the end the topic is postponed, albeit with clear words in the so-called conclusions. After this summit, the warning from EU Parliament President Sassoli with regard to Putin and Co. applies even more: “Our weakness is their strength”.