DE

Position Paper
For a New Russia Policy

Why only a united EU can successfully withstand the Kremlin’s destabilization attempts
group picture Prague
© Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom

On September 3-5, 2021, a group of representatives of 12 liberal youth organizations from Central and Eastern Europe met in Prague for a networking event "Eastern Europe Summit". The main goal of the Summit, which was attended also by representatives of IFLRY – The International Federation of Liberal Youth and Renew Europe, was to provide a platform for liberal youth organizations from the region to discuss a common strategy towards Russia.

In recent years, the Kremlin underlined that it is ready to enforce its agenda of a Russian world (Russkiy mir) by using military forces and disregarding international agreements, which it demonstrated with its invasion in Eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. By doing so, the Kremlin and its authoritarian regime became one of the greatest threats to European security and democratic-pluralistic systems in the last years. Also, the vague resilience of the European Union is challenged by the propaganda means of Russian state media, which also aim at fragmentising the EU from within with the support of far-right and far-left players. Additionally, many European countries including Germany depend on gas supplies from Russia. The establishment of North Stream II pipeline is often considered as a threat to a common EU policy on energy security. However, Germany goes its own way in this matter and does not take the concerns of other European states into consideration. It is thus important that the liberal youth organizations identify a common strategy for future relations with Russia.

During the Summit, the participating youth organizations developed a joint position paper entitled “For a New Russia Policy”. We are pleased to introduce you the position paper emphasizing the need of establishing a new policy strategy to counter the Kremlin’s destabilizing and hybrid forms of aggression against member states of the EU and its neighbours.