The document reflects the main results of the 162nd Bergedorf Round Table (Bergedorfer Gesprächkreis), held in Moscow by the German Kurt Körber Foundation (Körber Stiftung) and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) on July 10-12, 2016.
The document reflects the main results of the 162nd Bergedorf Round Table (Bergedorfer Gesprächkreis), held in Moscow by the German Kurt Körber Foundation (Körber Stiftung) and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) on July 10-12, 2016.
The Bergedorf Round Table was established in 1961 and has become a traditional discussion platform for leading politicians and experts who meet within its framework several times a year.
During the event, the participants discuss fundamental issues pertaining to European and international politics in a confidential setting.
Executive Summary
- The crisis between Europe and Russia has solidified and become the new norm. Hopes of rapprochement were disappointed; instead, relations between Moscow and its European neighbors are developing towards a form of “escalated alienation.”
- Full implementation of the Minsk Agreement is becoming increasingly unlikely. In the short term, all parties could accept a situation in which the conflict in Ukraine froze in its present state. However, in the medium to long term, a further “frozen conflict” would pose a significant risk to European security.
- In light of profound disagreements between Russia and the West, fundamental debate about the European security order is neither purposeful nor opportune at the current time. Rather, tangible steps towards de-escalation are the order of the day.
