European Union and Russian experts are meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, April 6th, to continue discussions on the state of relations between Russia and the European Union. The one-day event is being hosted by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and is the second in a series of such meetings scheduled for 2016 as part of an initiative spearheaded by the EU Delegation to the Russian Federation.
European Union and Russian experts are meeting in Berlin on Wednesday, April 6th, to continue discussions on the state of relations between Russia and the European Union. The one-day event is being hosted by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and is the second in a series of such meetings scheduled for 2016 as part of an initiative spearheaded by the EU Delegation to the Russian Federation.
Drawing on the understanding reached during the kick-off event held in Moscow by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) in February which had an exploratory character, the Berlin meeting will tackle such themes as the Ukrainian and Syrian conflicts. The EU and Russian experts are being joined on this occasion by participants from Ukraine. Alfredo Conte, the Head of the Strategic Planning Division in the European External Action Service, will lead a session on the EU global strategy which will be further discussed by both sides.
The agenda of next week’s meeting has been jointly elaborated by DGAP, RIAC, and the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), in consultation with the EU Delegation in Moscow. Two further meetings are planned later this year as part of efforts not to narrow down communication channels and to overcome obstacles in continuing constructive dialogue between Russia and the EU at a difficult time in relations.
The EU Delegation’s initiative is aimed at creating an operative framework of co-operation between EU and Russian experts on EU-Russia relations with the view to a longer-term engagement. A similar initiative, also led by the Moscow EU delegation, is being launched in the area of the media, with meetings and workshops between Russian journalists and their EU colleagues.
