Beware of Smiling Bears
Europe and Russia have often referred to their desire to forge closer relations - enshrined in key bilateral treaties – as a “strategic partnership.” But Russia appears to be changing the terms of this nascent relationship, and Europeans increasingly wonder whether it can continue to develop.
WARSAW – Remember the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), aimed at enshrining “commonly-shared values” between Russia and the European Community? Signed in 1994 during the hopeful early days of Russia’s first-ever democracy, the PCA was bolstered in 1999 by the creation of the European Union’s Common Security Defense Policy (CSDP).