What steps should be taken to improve Russia-EU relations?

Sam       November 6, 2007, 10:08

Now Oleg you are contradicting youself first you say
"From the stupid comments I see it must be about the U.S.! England is the real problem in the E.U....Get a life people"
and now you say
"didn't you know that U.K. is the 55th star of the US flag"
We know that but with the puppy dog Blair gone and the neutral behaviour of Brown we hope that will change.

fred       November 6, 2007, 09:41

sevodnya...

the UK policies towards visa and immigtrants is a total scam ...

if you are a foreigner and want to work legally in London , it's quite simple :

you get enroled in a school of english ( for some $$$ , off-course !) then you get the student-visa , you go to London to "study" and off course , since life is so cheap in UK , you will be granted the right to work a few hours every week ...

the scam is lying there , once you start working , no one is going to check how many hours you really work and how much time you spend in your "school of english" ...

to the greater advantage of London's employer whom are going to offer you a job for wich a brit wouldn't even consider falling from his bed for such a lousy salary ...

never thought about the why , when you go to the grocery or silly place where they sell you a colored water they call "coffee" for the price of crude oil (starbucks and the like...) you are very seldom served by a brit ?? you think they all have a better job ? NO,they just don't consider to work for that kind of money ...!!

it's too good for them to have thousands of cheap workers they can underpay pretending they can afford to learn english that way ...!!

if the UK would be looking to solve this they would implement ID card (at the moment , it is very difficult to check your status in the country for police officers ...) and would check those "school of english" system ( i have seen some which were basically a small office , big enough for a chair and a desk , just having an adress and taking money from foreigner looking for a visa ...)

Sam       November 5, 2007, 20:56

Yah sure as if US radar and ABM proposal and spead of NATO are not affecting relations between EU and Russia.
I do support free travel between EU and Russia as this will further benefit the development of both sides.However as long as the decision is collective,this would not happen.Individual EU states should be allowed to reach this agreement with Russia.With lifting visa restrictions with Turkey,Turkish tourist industry had increased.Isreal will soon follow that way too.As a traveller i can tell you i would not holiday anywhere where i have to go for a visa first as its an bother i can do without.

fred       November 5, 2007, 15:05

oleg ...

didn't you know that U.K. is the 55th star of the US flag ?? ;-))

Sevodnya_Net       November 5, 2007, 13:44

"The EU should relax visa restrictions on Russians so that they can travel and be with their partners in the rest of Europe"

Not sure about the rest of the EU but current visa regulations in Britain don't prevent that. Not only that but if you've been married for 3 years you can even apply for a British passport.

oleg       November 5, 2007, 06:43

Is this about Europe/Russian relations or about U.S./Russian relations????From the stupid comments I see it must be about the U.S.! England is the real problem in the E.U....Get a life people.

The Director       November 4, 2007, 21:52

The EU and Russia are partners in a modern Europe. I envisage a day when Russians have the same rights to travel and work and marry in anywhere in modern Europe. This I speak on a Geo economic and social perspective.
The EU should relax visa restrictions on Russians so that they can travel and be with their partners in the rest of Europe.
It is a position that the EU should now adopt accordingly. EU nationals should be allowed to marry their Russian Partners if they wish to do so and that they should be allowed to live where they feel most happy.
I shall be marrying a Russian Lady and I would want the very best for her but most of all shall respect her in her decision where she wants to live. I think the Russia and EU relationship is an important one and long may it blossom and flourish.

Sam       November 4, 2007, 10:57

Western europe and the USSR were natural military rivals.With collapse of USSR,Russia became an natural economic rival which is a good thing as that promotes growth and is what capitalism is all about.However with a third party stepping,the situation is slowly tilting back to the old ways.

Al       November 2, 2007, 01:27

Fred - unfortunately many of these issues won't go away with Bush once he's done his time. Bush himself doesn't amount to much more than the ceremonial figurehead of a well-oiled and bipartisan political, military and economic system which has cleverly been rigged to serve the interests of the ruling plutocracy.

The current war in Afghanistan has a long historical runup (the "Great Game" between Russia and Great Britain) and I don't think that much has changed today. NATO are there to gain a foothold in Central Asia from which to gain access to resources and local economies. Keep in mind that many of the NATO countries battling the Taleban (who incidentally didn't attack NATO countries though they were on friendly terms with certain NATO enemies) today were arming and funding the Taleban's forerunners against the Soviet Union in the 1970's and 1980's.

The ex-Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Caucasus oil politics etc. are all part of a geostrategic battle for global hegemony between the world's most powerful nations. Human nature hasn't really changed much since the time of the Colonialist / Imperialist era and today. Money and power still make the world go round, not "human rights" or "freedom and democracy".

Al       November 1, 2007, 23:04

Sevodnya - your smug and patronising tone is a bit tiresome. I don't recall claiming that no war crimes were committed by any particular side and if you bothered to check my first post on the topic you'd have remembered that I stated that Russia wasn't "whiter than white". The same applies to Serbia and any country or group involved in any kind of dispute. Believing otherwise is naive.

What I do stand by is the assertion that Russia as well as Serbia are being given the sharp end of the criticism stick by the US and Europe Governments and their corporate owned medias who have very little basis for claiming the moral highground.

Nobody is innocent but if the BBC, Faux News or the Economist are to be believed, USA / NATO / EU are heroicly saving humanity and combating evil amongst those terrible nations and cultures who just won't conform to Brussels', London's & Washington's diktats.

Is that so hard to understand or do you seriously believe that the West are "fair, balanced and unbiased" in their numerous dealings and wars with those who don't see eye to eye with them?

Sevodnya_Net       November 1, 2007, 22:13

Fred, I sympathise with your point of view, in fact I think I agree with you. The visa de-regulation isn't going to happen, tho. Not because it isn't a good idea but because it isn't in either party's interest. I apologise for using the term "mass exodus" earlier - that is a gross exaggeration, but there would be a large number of economic migrants from a country already suffering from a population decline and skills shortage. And can you see the Russian govt for its part welcoming Western backpackers to Makhachkala and Groznyy?

fred       November 1, 2007, 16:34

but getting back to the core question (what should be done to improve EU/Russia relations)

first , let the people of both sides to know freely each others (baning the visa-madness)

then , once the europeans will have understood russians are NOT wild subject of joke ; and russians they are like us (nothing to be afraid about ), make sure our politicians are not playing with our fears of each others any more ....!!

fred       November 1, 2007, 12:50

AI :

yes , i agree very much with you ...
if something totally mad has to be done , the way to look at it differs from the side you are on !

what i was stating is more : the "missile shield" should be seen as a mere attemp by Bush followers to show they can still pretend to be the rulers ...!
which in fact is very far from being true since they failed to succeed in any ways to win anything in Irak (they just forgot the N°1 lesson = never go against an other country's population wish as an outsider ,you'll always loose !) , puuled-out from afghanistan without resolving any problems ( Nato troops took over ) and finally did promote very much islamic terrorism more than fighting it !

even the american public opinion is fed-up with so much BS in foreign politics ...

Non-americans should look at bush preeching as the end of a power , very soon either USA won't have the technicals means of theirs policies (they have already too many problems to maintain US troops in Irak , they had to pull-out as much as possible from afghanistan , they would like to do the same with Iran , but the question remain "with what soldiers ?" the financial situation of USA is a nightmare for economists and they (we) are on the verge of a deep recession fuelled by the ridiculous amount of credits they pilled-up for too long ...)

not even talking about the simple fact , president Bush is going to be gone soon from office ...

then the present policy would be turned down (hopefully...!) if the US citizens make the right choice and the poll results are not too "worked-out"

so talking about teh shield now , is a bit like talking about a would-be-star whom would do any stupid thing for having the dirt-press talking about ...

Sevodnya_Net       November 1, 2007, 12:29

Al, I'm afraid when I read your posts I get the impression of someone viewing the world with one eye open and one eye closed.
"Inviolability of national borders" is a joke. Borders are often imposed arbitrarily by empires (whether Soviet, British etc) and it sometimes becomes necessary in the wake of their dispersal to redraw to prevent or deal with (often the latter sadly) catastrophic consequences. But even that sometimes isn't enough to solve a problem of course. So there are Bosnian Serbs who don't like their situation, Serb and Albanian Kosovans etc etc.
Condemn NATO if you like, it is your right, but at least acknowledge the war crimes too. Otherwise, as I say, your outlook appears rather one-eyed.

Al       October 31, 2007, 22:44

How can one but not be suspicious when one side in a multi-dimensional mess is made into the scapegoat while the others are absolved of nearly all sins?

How can one explain why huge permanent military bases are built on occupied territory while simultaneously efforts are being made to confiscate that territory which flies in the face of the UN Charter and the inviolability of national borders?

Add to that the political interference in domestic policies through so-called "NGO's" which are effectively US / CIA front organisations funded by very rich and influential people who also just happen to be interested in resources located on territory about to be confiscated and then the bigger picture starts looking rather dirty.

A sincere NATO wouldn't have violated their own charter, terrorbombed civilians and the media, chosen sides or still attempt to wrestle land away from its rightful owners.