All, or almost all, European states bear some form of responsibility for reinforcing the Russian government’s willingness and ability to launch an assault on democracy, with horrific consequences for Ukraine.
Systematic legal, political and economic impunity has strengthened the Kremlin’s belief that it can impose its policies not only on perceived enemies in Russia, but across the region and the world.
In general, the European approach to Russia under Vladimir Putin has been based on the ‘Ostpolitik’ of the Federal Republic of Germany. Developed during the Cold War, this policy was reflected in the phrase “wandel durch handel”, or “change through trade”.
