Borrell says Europe and Russia are ‘drifting apart’
Relations between the European Union and Russia are at “crossroads,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell said following a visit to Moscow, which he described as “complicated”.
“My meeting with Minister Lavrov highlighted that Europe and Russia are drifting apart. It seems that Russia is progressively disconnecting itself from Europe,” Borrell wrote in a blog post in the EU’s External Action Service (EEAS).
Prior to his departure for Moscow, the EU’s top diplomat was urged by MEPs to justify his visit and most importantly, to cancel it, over Russia’s arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the violent crackdown on protesters calling for his release. However, Borrell defended his upcoming move, citing that he ought to scout the prospects of EU-Russia relations, given that Kremlin is a strategic partner for the bloc.
However, things did not turn out as planned for the EU, as in a rather “humiliating” moment, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blatantly stated that the country “does not see the EU as a reliable partner.”
At the same time, Russia expelled three European diplomats, from Germany, Poland and Sweden, on grounds they attended illegal rallies in support of Navalny, in a move made during a joint press conference between Borrell and Lavrov.
Returning from Moscow, Borrell voiced his “deep concerns” over the perspectives of development of Russian society and Russia’s geostrategic choices, citing that the country is “looking at democratic values as an existential threat”.
The bloc’s foreign affairs ministers are set to discuss the matter and it will be up to the member states to decide the next steps. According to the EU’s top diplomat, those steps could include sanctions.
“We also have another tool in this respect, thanks to the recently approved EU human’s rights sanctions regime,” Borrell said.
“If we want a safer world for tomorrow, we have to act decidedly today and be ready to take some risks,” he added.
