A reset in Europe

While continuing the reset process with the United States, which in 2010 led to the ratification of two long-awaited documents by the US Congress – the 123 Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3) – Russia has also achieved success in Europe. 

The year had passed in anticipation of the November NATO summit in Lisbon, in time for which the Alliance was formulating a new strategic concept, and Russia, which was invited to hold the Council of Russia-NATO meeting at the level of heads of state – was preparing its view on the missile defense project. As a result, Russia was removed from the list of threats to NATO and was offered to participate in the creation of the global Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system. President Dmitry Medvedev responded with a proposal to develop a joint sectoral missile defense system. The Wall Street Journal cites NATO diplomats as saying that Russia’s proposal did not arouse much excitement. But, Russia did allow NATO to transport cargo through its territory into Afghanistan.  

A shift has been noted in the northern direction. In March, for the first time in 10 years, a Swedish prime minister visited Moscow. The government of Fredrik Reinfeldt, who is a sharp critic of the human rights situation in Russia, had in 2009 approved the Nord Stream pipeline construction through the Baltic Sea, and in the spring, was already talking about increasing mutual investments. In the summer, the 40-year-old dispute with Norway over the continental shelf in the Barents Sea, which was divided in “the good neighborly spirit” – across the median line, was resolved, while the heads of state had, as they traditionally do, talked about the inadmissibility of a military presence on the Arctic shelf.  

In December, a rare guest arrived in Moscow – Latvian President Valdis Zatlers. Prior to that, he attended the May 9 Victory Day Parade on Red Square, but this was the first time in five years that the Latvian leader made an official visit to Russia. No ground-breaking documents were signed, but the tone of the relations became warmer.

The Victory Day Parade was attended by Bronislaw Komorowski, the newly elected president of Poland, relations with which have this year been developing in accordance with the saying: “If it wasn’t for bad luck, there wouldn’t be luck at all”. The crash of Tu-154 with the late President Lech Kaczynski on board, which happened near Smolensk and was followed by a joint investigation of the catastrophe, the early election victory of Komorowski, a pragmatist, and Russia’s proposal to transfer the Katyn archives and State Duma’s acknowledgement of Stalin’s responsibility for the shootings of Polish officers, made the Russian president’s December visit to Poland – which was the first in the last eight years – a success. Despite the fact that the parties stated that disagreements, including historic, remain, Poland is ready to become Russia’s supporter in Europe and promote a joint agenda in the EU. On December 28, Warsaw asked the EU to abolish the visa requirements for Kaliningrad residents visiting Poland.

Easing visa requirements was a traditional topic of discussion at two Russia-EU summits, and despite the fact that Russia had proposed a concrete plan of action, no decisions on this matter were made. But the EU had agreed to Russia’s accession to the WTO, which should make the signing of a new basic agreement easier. Institutional reforms in the European Union have not yet led to the emergence of a single policy, thus Russia is developing relations, including the priority Partnership for Modernization program, in a bilateral mode. The economy continues to be the driving force of relations between Russia and Great Britain, though the new Foreign Secretary, William Hague’s, fall visit to Russia had underscored the disagreements on the issues of human rights and the “Litvinenko case”.