How to Deal With Russia?

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How should Europe deal with Russia, Judy Dempsey, senior associate at Carnegie Europe, asks. The answer is simple, Marcel de Haas, senior research associate at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, contends: Europe needs to take a united stance.

Moscow’s policy toward Europe has been “divide and rule,” Mr de Haas noted. Referring to Gazprom’s deals with European gas distributors, he said Russia was playing EU member states off against each other. Gazprom’s tactic was part of a broader energy war between Russia and the EU.

Russia’s Nord Stream and South Stream gas pipeline projects were an attempt to blackmail Ukraine into joining Moscow’s Eurasian Union, Mr de Haas said. Instead of a joint energy policy toward Russia, EU member states were making their own bilateral deals with Moscow, he lamented.

Europe should join the United States and pass its own Magnitsky Act, Denis MacShane, Britain’s former Minister for Europe, argued. The measure would show Russian officials and the government that corruption and harassment of political opponents carried a price, Mr MacShane said.

Moscow wanted to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States, and between European nation states and the EU, Mr MacShane warned. A European Magnitsky Act would show that this tactic did not work, he said. Moscow has exerted heavy pressure on EU member states on the issue. займы на карту онлайн займы https://zp-pdl.com/get-quick-online-payday-loan-now.php https://zp-pdl.com/apply-for-payday-loan-online.php быстрые займы онлайн