Russia's European Agenda and the Baltic States

240 Pages·2009·2.495 MB·English

by  Janina Šleivyte

Russia’s European Agenda and the
Baltic States
Russian foreign policy has become an increasing concern in the twenty- first cen-
tury, together with Russia’s relations with its former Soviet neighbours – but its
relations with the Baltic States are particularly sensitive, given the Baltic mem-
bership of NATO and the EU and Russia’s increasingly fractious relations with
those institutions. This book discusses the development of Russia’s approach to the
new security architecture in Europe and assesses the prospects for a more active
engagement of Russia in the Baltic Sea Region and Europe as a whole. It considers
the full range of issues affecting security, including energy and economic relations;
the special position of Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave; and Russia’s special interest
in the Russian minorities in the former Soviet Baltic States.
The evolution of Russian- Baltic relations from 1990–2008 is set in the more
general context of Russia’s European agenda, looking into the role and place of
the Baltic States in this agenda. It provides a comparative analysis of the European
agenda of Russia’s foreign policy under Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry
Medvedev, and concludes that, despite the replacement of the former Cold War
stand- off with a more positive climate and a complicated array of bilateral and
multilateral contacts, much more still needs to be done to engage Russia fully with
the new Europe.
Janina Šleivytė is Senior Advisor to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence. She was
formerly a member of the Defence Policy and Planning Division of the NATO
International Staff. She holds a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy
from Cranfield University (UK), and doctorate on astrophysics from Vilnius
University.
Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series
1 Liberal Nationalism in Central 7 The Telengits of Southern
Europe Siberia
Stefan Auer Landscape, religion and
knowledge in motion
2 Civil-Military Relations in Russia Agnieszka Halemba
and Eastern Europe
David J. Betz 8 The Development of Capitalism
in Russia
3 The Extreme Nationalist Threat Simon Clarke
in Russia
The growing influence of Western 9 Russian Television Today
Rightist ideas Primetime drama and comedy
Thomas Parland David MacFadyen
4 Economic Development in 10 The Rebuilding of Greater
Tatarstan Russia
Global markets and a Russian Putin’s foreign policy towards the
region CIS countries
Leo McCann Bertil Nygren
5 Adapting to Russia’s New 11 A Russian Factory Enters the
Labour Market Market Economy
Gender and employment Claudio Morrison
strategy
Edited by Sarah Ashwin 12 Democracy Building and Civil
Society in Post-Soviet Armenia
6 Building Democracy and Civil Armine Ishkanian
Society East of the Elbe
Essays in honour of Edmund 13 NATO-Russia Relations in the
Mokrzycki Twenty-First Century
Edited by Sven Eliaeson Aurel Braun
14 Russian Military Reform 17 The Caucasus – An Introduction
A failed exercise in defence Frederik Coene
decision making
Carolina Vendil Pallin 18 Radical Islam in the Former
Soviet Union
15 The Multilateral Dimension in Edited by Galina M. Yemelianova
Russian Foreign Policy
Edited by Elana Wilson Rowe and 19 Russia’s European Agenda and
Stina Torjesen the Baltic States
Janina Šleivytė
16 Russian Nationalism and the
National Reassertion of Russia
Edited by Marlène Laruelle

Russia’s European Agenda and
the Baltic States
Janina Šleivytė
First published 2010
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
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© 2010 Janina Šleivytė
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Sleivyte, Janina.
Russia’s European agenda and the Baltic States / Janina Sleivyte.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Russia (Federation)—Foreign relations—Europe. 2. Europe—Foreign
relations—Russia (Federation) 3. Russia (Federation)—Foreign relations—
Baltic States. 4. Baltic States—Foreign relations—Russia (Federation)
5. Baltic States—Strategic aspects. 6. National security—Russia (Federation)
7. National security—Baltic States. 8. North Atlantic Treaty Organization—
Russia (Federation) I. Title.
JZ1616.A54L45 2010
355’.033547—dc22 2009027137
ISBN 0-203-86183-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0- 415- 55400- 4 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0- 203- 86183- 3 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978- 0- 415- 55400- 8 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978- 0- 203- 86183- 7 (ebk)
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Acknowledgements x
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Research methodology 6
2 Russia’s foreign policy under Yeltsin: domestic and
international context 10
2.1 Russia’s statehood: historical context 10
2.2 Yeltsin’s leadership: domestic and international aspects 12
2.3 The National Security Concept and Military Doctrine 13
2.4 Distinct features of Russian foreign policy 16
2.5 Conclusions 29
3 The evolution of Russia’s foreign policy under Putin and
Medvedev (2000–8) 31
3.1 Russia’s power cycle: the Knudsen model 31
3.2 Multi- polarity and Eurasianism 34
3.3 Russia in the post- 9/11 security environment 38
3.4 Foreign affairs: from accommodation to revisionist strategy 42
3.5 Russia’s agenda in the post- Soviet space 51
3.6 The NATO- Russia relationship 66
3.7 Defence and security policy 73
3.8 Conclusions 80
4 Russia and Europe 86
4.1 Russian- European relations: a brief overview 86
4.2 The Kaliningrad puzzle 95
viii Contents
4.3 Security cooperation 103
4.4 Impediments in Russia’s engagement with Europe 107
4.5 Russia’s war against Georgia and the EU 109
4.6 Conclusions 113
5 The Russian factor in Baltic security 117
5.1 Approach to Baltic security 117
5.2 What makes the Baltic region important for Russia? 120
5.3 Russian- Baltic relations in the early 1990s: troubled
neighbourliness 122
5.4 Security cooperation versus security confrontation 127
5.5 NATO in the Baltics 133
5.6 Russia- related threats and challenges to Baltic security 142
5.7 Conclusions 153
6 Lithuania’s relations with Russia: a case study 156
6.1 A great power- small state context 156
6.2 Lithuania- Kaliningrad dialogue 157
6.3 Russian military transit via Lithuania 165
6.4 Russia’s geo- economic pressure 171
6.5 Conclusions 182
7 Russian- Baltic relations: summary and perspectives 187
7.1 Cooperation for regional security 187
7.2 Explaining the Russian- Baltic asymmetric relationship 193
7.3 Russia’s agenda in the Baltics 195
7.4 Perspectives for the Baltics in countering
Russia- related threats and promoting cooperative
Russian- Baltic relations 197
References 203
Index 222
Illustrations
Maps
2.1 The former Soviet space: the CIS countries and the Baltic States 21
2.2 The GUUAM interregional grouping 25
4.1 The Kaliningrad oblast and its neighbourhood 96
6.1 The Kaliningrad exclave within the European Union 160
6.2 Russian military transit (primary transport line) via Lithuania 167
6.3 The railway route and air corridor of Russian military transit to and
from the Kaliningrad oblast via Lithuania 170
7.1 The Baltic Sea Region 188
Tables
3.1 The resources of Russian foreign policy 32
3.2 Schools of thought in Russian foreign policy 37