EIRSS 2009 – Module III
Policy framework and developments (9 hours)
The purpose of the module is to expand the participants’ knowledge about the policy framework underlying EU-Russian relations, including major agreements (e.g. the Partnership and Cooperation agreement, the four Common Spaces), main actors involved in policy-making, and specific policies (e.g. energy, European Neighbourhood Policy). This module encompasses a study trip to Tallinn where we shall visit various organizations involved in policy-making, advocacy and research in the field of EU-Russia relations (e.g. the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the International Centre for Defense Studies, the Open Estonia Foundation). These meetings will focus on the question of whether, and to what extent, the accession of the Baltic states to the EU has helped restructure the historically burdened Baltic-Russian relationship. Examples of specific outstanding issues and problems in Baltic-Russian relations after the historic enlargement of the EU and NATO will be discussed (e.g. the status of the Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltics, the extension of the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to the new member states; controversies surrounding the 2005 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow; the Russian decision to revoke the Estonian-Russian border treaty; Russian violations of the NATO-guarded Baltic airspace; Baltic criticism of the Nord Stream pipeline project; problems related to Russian energy transit through the Baltic states, intensified conflicts over memory, history, and identity; disputes about the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty; Lithuania’s attempts to block the launch of EU-Russian negotiations on the new treaty; Baltic activism in supporting democratic reforms in the post-Soviet space, and in backing the EU and NATO aspirations of countries such as Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova.)