There was some promising news from today's EU-Russia summit, as reported in the article linked above from German news site Deutsche Welle. New Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, hosted EU leaders in the Serbian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, for a three hour meeting that marked the beginning of new partnership negotiations. 
According to the article, whilst it is clear that there are many areas of disagreement between Russia and the EU, which must resolved through negotiation, the tone of this meeting was warm and constructive - certainly in comparison to the tension that characterized dialogue during the final months of Putin's presidency. It's too early to say how the relationship will evolve, of course, but certainly this is a promising start to a new phase of diplomacy. A cause for cautious optimism at least. (Pretty photo of Khanty-Mansiysk from Deutsche Welle.)
Friday, June 27, 2008
260: new chapter in EU-Russian relations
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Thanks Eazibee!
We hear about international tension so often, but international relaxation hardly ever gets a mention (and I don't mean summer holidays!). Great to see it reported.
Just as Freedom House logs the state of democracy in various countries, we need an entrepreneurial NGO to assess the mass of bilateral relations around the world and decide whether we're becoming more or less at ease with each other.
(Assessing relations between non-state actors may be difficult, but if bilateral relations were improving while the world was becoming more tense, it could highlight an international failure that needed to be addressed.)
... and, indeed, what a beautiful town (in a sparse sort of way!)
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