Stockholm, Sweden, April 25, 2011.- There are many reasons ranging from geographical factors, to political, military and historical considerations behind the reason of why Russia is still not part of the European Union. Russian future is with Europe rather than out of it. Thinking otherwise is a huge mistake. Russia has more in common with Europe than with China or other states.
For the first time in about ten years, Vladimir Putin returns to Sweden at the invitation of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. During his two days visit, Putin and Reinfeldt will discuss the situation of the Swedish-Russian relations regarding the North Pole, where Russia has been eager to drill oil to increase its capabilities of remaining one the top producers in the world and a strong economy in Europe.
They will also discuss the possibilities for Russia to join the European Union, possibilities that up to now, seems too far away, because neither Sweden nor his colleagues as the EU consider Russia a viable candidate because it has not met the criteria imposed by the Union.
There could be any number of reasons. One is that the EU requires the member countries to follow specific rules and guidelines. Russia may not want to be subjected to these rules. They may wish to continue to levy taxes on certain imports and exports to protect their own industries.
Russia does not need the EU and the EU doesn’t have the economic capacities to take on Russia. When they took in 10 new east countries recently what they do is to bring them up to the price level of the other EU countries is to transfer billions of Euros into the new countries so their competiveness do not surpass the old countries. Russia’s economy is on a rapid growth and they do not want to take on the EU rules and regulations. Their political and social status is not exactly favorable either.
But, as someone put it straight in Yahoo when answering the question, “there are a host of reasons ranging from geographical factors, to political, military and historical considerations. I personally believe that Russian future is WITH Europe rather than out of it. It is a huge mistake to think otherwise. When it comes to making a real choice it will be obvious that Russia has much more in common with general European values than, say, with Chinese or “Southern” (let’s put it this way) ones.
Both Russia and Europe see each other as competing entities so far. Europe sees Russian political system as a new edition of authoritarianism (what is true) while Russia is extremely cautious about a prospect of becoming Europe’s new colony, just a source of raw materials.
“As I see the situation it’s against everybody’s interests to have Russia integrated into the European Union now. New EU countries (such as Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary etc) love posing themselves as Russia’s victims what allows them, poor creatures, to mooch for additional funding from the European pocket. The USA and China are not interested to have Russia as an EU member because it will dramatically change a whole geopolitical equilibrium with Europe (strengthened by Russian economic and human resources) becoming the leading economic and political power in the world. At last, Russian corrupted and kleptomaniac elite don’t want to lose their political and financial unaccountability.”
Russia is the main source of Europe’s oil and gas, and Russia is a major and fast-growing market for the continent’s exporters, so Russian membership would be a big economic boost to the EU. If Russia also became a member of the Euro zone, Greece’s sovereign debt crisis would pale into insignificance, and the Euro would probably replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Of course Russia’s huge size would raise issues with migrant labour and Council of Europe votes, but all in all it is definitely in the EU’s interest to have Russia as a member.
The European Union is hesitating in letting Turkey into the union, facing therefore few challenges greater than working out a modus vivendi with to large and difficult neighbours. The way the Union has chosen to deal with this duo will determine the future itself of the organization. Up to now, it has not developed a coherent and effective common policy towards Russia. If it rules out Turkey, its voice and influence will diminish, and not only in Muslim countries. If the EU mishandles both countries, they might make an anti-European alliance.
Europe needs Russia; Russia needs Europe. So simple!
