Russia and Europe: Between Integration and Diplomacy

Abstract

Is eu-Russia Cooperation a Vital Necessity or a unique opportunity?Timofei V. Bordachev abstract Russia and the European Union had all objective preconditions for establishing a lasting cooperative relationship, which could subsequently lead to integration. However, objective factors of their internal development and systemic changes in global politics resulted in a situation where such relations proved to be unclaimed for both parties. The fundamental cause of the crisis in the relations between Russia and Europe was that for both of them the other party

The Russia and Turkey Factors in Hungary-Serbia Tandem’s Policies

“…Orbán might have also facilitated dialogue between Erdoğan and Dodik by discussing the political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Turkish president on November 11, 2021, just a few days after Dodik had met with Erdogan (Habertürk TV, 2022). * * * The Hungary-Serbia tandem, which has created unofficial trilateral mechanisms with Austria and Republika Srpska, relies on "partnership of necessity" as a tool for achieving the most urgent short-term goals (Bordachev et al, 2019), which can hardly be attained without using the factor of Russia and Turkey.…”

Envisioning the World: Mapping and Making the Global

“…In this narrative, the EU 'has failed to create a politically unified space capable of acting in concert on the international stage and is unlikely to achieve this in the future' (Bordachev 2019). It is 'certainly fighting to make sure that it is not lost in this new world order' (Lavrov 2018b), but 'the ability of Brussels to influence this world is waning' (Kortunov 2019a).…”

“…By contrast, Moscow is and must be ready for 'creative participation' in the global transformation. Imbued with a powerful sense of righteousness, Russia 'will remain a country that is able to ensure its survival' either with support from allies or, if necessary, all on its own (Bordachev 2019) or even as a 'lonely power' (Shevtsova 2010; see also the chapter by Sergei Akopov in this volume). The major challenge Russia faces today is to reinvent itself as an indispensable global player.…”

Building a Common Eurasian Infrastructure: Agenda for the Eurasian Economic Union

“…Probably, transit as such is not the only goal of the SREB. Much more important are other reasons: the transfer of excess construction facilities, which emerged in China during the period of an infrastructure boom, to other countries; access to natural re sources of Central Eurasia; a potential transfer of polluting and labourintensive indus tries to this region, as these industries become less attractive in China with the growth of incomes and exacerbation of environmental problems; access to new sales markets (including the markets of countries such as Iran and Pakistan) which are not very large yet but will certainly expand over time; and relative stability in Central Asia and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region [Bordachev, Likhacheva, Xin, 2015;Makarov, Sokolova, 2016;.…”

“…The Russian Far East, and especially Primorsky Krai which is located in the middle of the ChinaKoreaJapan triangle, can help link them into a regional infrastructure network. Factors that can fa cilitate this development include, first, the gradual regionalization of international trade and the transition of Asian countries from the "Asia for the world" model to the "Asia for Asia" model [Bordachev, Likhacheva, Xin, 2015] and second, the gradual shift of the economic growth center in China from east coast provinces to the periphery which includes northeast provinces -Jilin, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia.…”