Past Event! Note: this event has already taken place.
EU-Russia-Belarus after the Russian Presidential Election: Where Now?
June 7, 2012 at 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM
| Location: | Senate Room, 608 Robertson Hall |
| Cost: | Free |
Roundtable Discussion
Speakers and Topics:
The Putin Presidency and Russia’s Relations with the EU and the West (25 minutes) by Sergei Plekhanov, York University
Recent Developments in Belarus and the Belarus-EU-Russian Relationship (25 minutes) by David Marples, University of Alberta.
Prospects for the EU’s Relations with Belarus and Russia (15 minutes) by Joan DeBardeleben, Carleton University
Discussion: 40 minutes
This roundtable discussion focused on recent developments in the EU’s relations with the Russian Federation and with Belarus in the wake of the most recent Russian presidential election. While President Putin proposes to continue efforts to develop closer ties with the European Union, he also has put forth the notion of a Eurasian Union, of which Belarus would be a key member. At the same time efforts to negotiate a new broad-ranging partnership agreement between the EU and Russia have stalled, while the EU’s efforts to encourage liberalization in Belarus have been fraught with difficulties.
This event brought together experts on the EU, Russia, and Belarus to discuss the implications of the most recent Russian elections for relations between the EU and these important actors, and to consider what kinds of approaches the EU might take to improve relations with both countries.
Sergei Plekhanov, a leading expert on Russian foreign policy, is a professor at York University in Toronto and Coordinator of the Post-Communist Studies Program at York Centre for International and Security Studies. David Marples is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Alberta and a leading expert on Belarusian politics. Joan DeBardeleben is Chancellor’s Professor at Carleton University and a holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood Relations.