Summit Flop: EU Needs New Russia Policy after Ukraine Debacle

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/ukraine-debacle-and-eu-vilnius-summit-shows-need-for-new-russia-policy-a-936410.html



Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Vilnius

Summit Flop: EU Needs New Russia Policy after Ukraine Debacle
By Nikolaus Blome and Gregor Peter Schmitz in Vilnius
November 29, 2013 – 06:13 PM

The protocol highlight of Friday's Eastern Partnership Summit was supposed to be the formal signing of an agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. But Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych no longer wants to be Europe's new best friend, so he put the deal on ice.

As a result, the highlight is now a different and, above all, sensitive one: German Cancellor Angela Merkel met the unyielding Yanukovych on Friday morning. But in what context? A German protocol official had a loud phone conversation in the hotel lobby: "The Ukrainians want the interpreter to sit at the table, as well," he exclaimed. They had brought a flag, he continued, before asking if that would be a problem. And, ah yes, the Ukrainian delegation wanted to sit on right-hand side. "At first glance, I can't see any downside for us," the official said carefully into his mobile phone.

With delicate details of ice-age diplomacy like these, the summit has been thrown back from what should have been the prelude to a very good friendship. It is not just the failure of the agreement that is on display in Vilnius, but also the failure of the EU's strategy toward Eastern Europe as it devolves into mere helpless announcements.

Officials admit that the task is a complicated and time-consuming one, but they still believe that controversial leaders like Yanukovych must eventually take the plunge toward Europe. "The door is open," said Chancellor Merkel after her 40 minute-long meeting with the Ukrainian president, though she added that the opposition there cannot be forgotten, either. At the chancellor's bidding, her foreign policy adviser Christoph Heusgen met with opposition leader and heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko in Vilnius to learn more about reprisals against Ukrainian civil society.