EU Divided as Russia Rises

By Janusz Bugajski
Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado has contrasted EU disunity on the question of Kosova with the stance of the U.S. and Russia. While Washington and Moscow have clear positions “an EU position simply does not exist” thus undermining “any credibility in our foreign policy.”
Two sets of principles can be examined to understand the EU’s inconsistent foreign policy and its weak stance toward Russia over Kosova, a problem of direct concern to European stability: “enduring values” and “instrumental priorities.”
Membership in the EU is based on certain core principles or enduring values, including a competitive democracy, rule of law, free markets, human rights, and minority protection. Each country may differ in its interpretation but the Union operates within certain parameters and any government is liable to sanction if it breaches accepted norms.
However, in its foreign policy the EU operates more loosely and some values may be disregarded in order to pursue “common interests.” Although the EU seeks to promote its enduring values it will not necessarily downgrade relations with governments that do not share them. Hence, in relation to Russia, the EU acts instrumentally by ignoring core values, such as democracy, in pursuit of instrumental priorities such as trade, investment, and securing energy supplies.
The Russian elite also has enduring values, which it does not share with the EU, such as centralism and great power status. Putin’s success stems from his assertion that his predecessor Yeltsin disregarded core Russian values by adopting Western imports such as liberalism, political pluralism, and capitalist chaos. Hence, according to the Kremlin, the adoption of Western values weakened Russia.
For Moscow, instrumental principles are not ones that are simply pursued to achieve specific goals but are espoused to disguise Moscow’s enduring values. Hence, Moscow instrumentalizes many of the EU’s enduring values by claiming that Russia is not restoring an authoritarian system but adopting a “managed democracy.” Similarly, Russia is not rebuilding dominance in its former empire but is protecting its “national interests.”
There is no single or effective EU policy toward Russia even though formal mechanisms exist to regulate relations. Wide divergences in policy are evident within the EU and positions often shift with changes in government. For example, the new French President and the new German Chancellor have been more critical than their predecessors over a range of Russian misbehavior, from human rights and democracy to Chechnya and Georgia.
However, statements from individual capitals do not make common policy. Several new members, especially Poland and the Baltic states, complain that Germany, France, and Italy remain susceptible to Russian inroads through energy contracts and lucrative business deals, and they negotiate with the Kremlin without any input from smaller EU neighbors who directly face Russia’s reimperialization.
Instrumental priorities prevail over enduring values and thereby undermine them. Indeed, some EU officials believe that strong central control even at the cost of democracy and human rights solidifies Russia’s political stability. They are more concerned with ensuring short-term stability rather than long-term security.
The pursuit of allegedly shared interests with Russia can undermine the EU’s enduring values, especially if those interests are not shared by all EU states and where Russia’s interests corrupt the principles of democracy in neighboring European states. In the case of Kosova, Moscow would prefer to have a “frozen conflict” inside Europe that will prevent the incorporation of the entire Balkan peninsula within NATO and the EU.
Russia’s enduring values are now more boldly asserted and aggressively pursued, as there is little concern about negative EU reactions. The open question is whether the EU’s enduring values will also be more vigorously pursued in relation to Russia. Decisions on Kosova’s final status will not only indicate whether the EU has a common foreign and security policy, they will also demonstrate whether the democratic Union is willing to assert its core values when faced with an autocratic Russia.