On December 6, 2021 Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the EU – Russia Expert Network (EUREN) held a joint round table “Engaging Policy-makers with the Academia” to present the collective monograph The Routledge Handbook of EU — Russia Relations.
In the book leading Russian and European experts thoroughly analyzed distinguishing conceptual features, main issues on the agenda and geographical areas of the bilateral relations. Second-track diplomacy, cooperation in the energy sector and in the Arctic region as well as the EU – Russia interaction in the Post-Soviet space were chosen for the round table to discuss.
On December 6, 2021 Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the EU – Russia Expert Network (EUREN) held a joint round table “Engaging Policy-makers with the Academia” to present the collective monograph The Routledge Handbook of EU — Russia Relations.
In the book leading Russian and European experts thoroughly analyzed distinguishing conceptual features, main issues on the agenda and geographical areas of the bilateral relations. Second-track diplomacy, cooperation in the energy sector and in the Arctic region as well as the EU – Russia interaction in the Post-Soviet space were chosen for the round table to discuss.
Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director of Programs, Tatiana Romanova, Professor at the St. Petersburg State University, and Maxine David, Lecturer at Leiden University and Research Fellow at the Global Europe Centre, University of Kent (both – co-editors of the Handbook) and Janis Kluge, Senior Research Fellow at SWP and EUREN Coordinator, delivered opening remarks.
The discussion proceeded in the form of opinion exchange between the authors of different chapters and the practitioners, representing various official institutions.
The first session focused on the prospects of the second-track diplomacy in the EU – Russia relations. Sabine Fischer, Senior Research Fellow at SWP, and Larisa Deriglasova, Professor at the Tomsk State University, spoke on the matter. Alexander Gusarov, Head of the European Union Division at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Russia, acted as a discussant.
The following session was aimed at identifying potential spheres of constructive cooperation of Moscow and Brussels with energy sector and the Arctic acting as such. The former was introduced by Irina Kustova, CEPS Research Fellow, the latter – by Alexander Sergunin, Professor at the St. Petersburg State University. They received practical response from Jolita Pons, representing the EU Delegation to Russia.
Finally, the specialists discussed the role of regional agenda in the EU – Russia relations. Laure Delcour, Associate Professor at the University Sorbonne Nouvelle and Visiting Scholar of the College of Europe, and Sergey Utkin, Head of the Group for Strategic Assessment at the Center for Situational Analysis, IMEMO RAS, presented their Handbook chapters with Elena Danilova, Deputy Director of the Integration Development Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission, assessing their practical feasibility.
Tatiana Romanova, Janis Kluge and Maxine David respectively moderated the discussion.
