Europe is divided on how to deal with Putin – Pierre Haski

If Joe Biden can talk to Vladimir Putin, why shouldn’t we too? This, in other words, was the proposal that Berlin and Paris had presented to the other countries of the European Union gathered on June 24 in Brussels.

The logic might have seemed flawless, but the political reality is different. The surprise proposal for a dialogue between the 27 and the Russian president had begun to filter on the eve of the European Council, unleashing the anger of the countries most exposed to Russia’s action, namely the three Baltic states and Poland.

Despite their weight in the EU, France and Germany, however, have failed to win the support of member states. The summit, which ended on the night between 24 and 25 June, decided to take a hard line. It was one of the rare occasions that Paris and Berlin failed to win. And the countries on the eastern flank of Europe are hostile to anything resembling a policy of pacification with Moscow, and have experienced the most conciliatory Franco-German position with annoyance.

French President Emmanuel Macron explained this on arriving in Brussels: “We cannot remain in a purely reactive logic with respect to Russia at a time when we are witnessing a structured discussion between President Biden and President Putin”.

Both Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel thus take up a bottom line of their respective policies. Macron had attempted an opening towards Putin by welcoming him to Fort de Bregançon in the summer of 2019, but the dialogue had been short-lived. Merkel, for her part, follows the policy of her predecessors, and has categorically refused to interrupt the construction of the Nord stream 2 gas pipeline with Russia, even in moments of maximum tension.

Paris and Berlin proposed to Europeanise this attempt at dialogue with Moscow, which so far has not yielded results, in order to create a more favorable balance of forces. The two leaders believe that Russia is too important a country to Europe’s security to be ignored or marginalized.

The proposal was presented despite the multiple disputes. There is no lack of arguments for disagreement, from the annexation of Crimea in 2014 to the Navalnyj affair in 2020 to the support given by Russia to Belarus after the hijacking of a European plane to arrest a dissident journalist last month. Russia behaves at the borders of Europe as if the latter were not a power. And it must be recognized that he is not entirely wrong.

The French and German leaders were stung by the fact that Biden, less than six months after his entry into the White House, organized the meeting in Geneva without making concessions on crucial issues and coming out with his head held high. But the United States can present great power arguments that Europeans do not have.

The 27 have not yet managed to give the feeling of unity and ability to act collectively that would allow them to be respected by a Russian power that today thinks only in terms of power relations. Moreover, the hard line chosen in Brussels does not necessarily impress Putin and mark a real turning point. Russia is the indicator of European vulnerability.

(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)