Strategic patience with Russia will pay off

At the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, few predicted that Italy, Spain and France would join the path of sanctions. But evidence that Russia was far from adopting a peace agreement that would enable the reintegration of Ukraine led Rome, Madrid and Paris to adopt a firm position and join the call of sanctions on Russia.

The secret behind EU success in places as distant as Iran or the Balkans is its capacity to stay united behind a coherent set of principles.

However, Germany is said to be advocating that the EU opens trade talks between the EU and the Eurasian Union. The author discusses the dangers of this approach.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Dialogue with the Eurasian Union on Ukraine – an opportunity or a trap? http://www.europeansources.info/record/dialogue-with-the-eurasian-union-on-ukraine-an-opportunity-or-a-trap/

ESO: Background information: The New European Disorder http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-new-european-disorder/

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