The “Greater Europe – 2030” international working group met in London on 12 December. The session was organized by the European Leadership Network for multilateral nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK, Turkey).
The “Greater Europe – 2030” international working group met in London on 12 December. The session was organized by the European Leadership Network for multilateral nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK, Turkey).
The Russian International Affairs Council contingent was represented by RIAC President Igor Ivanov, Rosneft and RIAC Vice President Mikhail Margelov, RIAC Vice President and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Georgiy Mamedov, RIAC Programme Director Ivan Timofeev, and Director of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences and RIAC member Alexey Gromyko.
The partner organizations were represented by:
- Desmond Browne, Chair of the European Leadership Network, peer of the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and former UK Defence Secretary (2006-2008)
- Malcolm Rifkind, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for Kensington and Chelsea, head of the Intelligence and Security Committee, former UK Defence Secretary (1995-1997)
- Volker Rühe, member of the Executive Board of the European Leadership Network, Former Federal Minister of Defence of Germany (1992-1998)
- Tarja Cronberg, Member of the European Parliament, representative of the EU delegation for relations with Iran, former Minister of Labour of the Republic of Finland (2007-2009).
- Ian Kearns, Director of the European Leadership Network.
- Łukasz Kulesa, Head of the Non-proliferation and Arms Control Project at the Polish Institute of International Affairs.
- Özdem Sanberk, Оздем Санберк, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey (1991-1995), former Foreign Policy Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister (1985-1987).
- Paul Quilès, Former Minister of Defence of France (1985-1986).
- Adam Rotfeld, Co-Chair of the Russian–Polish Group for Difficult Matters, Professor at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Warsaw, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (2005).
In preparation for the meeting, Ivan Timofeev prepared a brief outline of the report “Cooperative Greater Europe at Risk: What Do We Lose and What Could Be Done?”, which proposes a number of concrete steps and initiatives that can be taken towards enhancing existing and establishing new formats for dialogue between Russia and its partners in the Euro-Atlantic region. The members and experts of the Working Group stressed the importance of continuing towards the creation of a common agenda for Russian–European relations in light of the tensions caused by the situation in Ukraine.
The Working Group outlined plans to prepare new working materials, and also discussed the interim results of cooperation and further steps that can be taken towards the implementation of a joint project.
