Memo 28: Relations between Moscow and the West suffer from a lack of trust. Berlin can play a key role in overcoming this by “resetting” foreign policy discourse and facilitating greater civil society engagement as well as economic and security cooperation.
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In the 80s Ronald Reagan warned Europe about becoming dependent on Russian energy. ++ With Gazprom supplying over 40 percent of Germany’s natural gas, this prediction is becoming a reality. ++ A question for the future, is whether the EU’s energy liberalization policy - unbundling the wholesale and retail businesses in gas and electricity- will either challenge or assist the
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Russia is changing. ++ The new Russian president’s speeches in Berlin about the importance of free press, of a broad middle class, and of the acknowledgement of mistakes made during the Prague spring are more than astonishing. ++ Although his first foreign visit was to China, Medvedev stressed that Europe would remain Russia’s top foreign policy priority. ++ He pointed out that Russia wants to
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