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EU fears losing influential vote on Russia after Brexit vote

 downing street

Entrance to British Prime Minister's No.10 Downing StreetPhoto by Joseph Earnest

 

by Carl  Schreck June 24, 2016

 

Newscast Media LONDONFor several years now, the Kremlin and its allies have courted Eurosceptic political movements in what has been widely seen as an effort to undermine unity in the European Union’s Russia policy – including sanctions for Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine.

Now, following the stunning result of June 23 Brexit referendum, the EU is set to lose one of its strongest proponents of a hard line on Russia, a development that some European officials say threatens the bloc’s resolve in its dealings with Moscow.

"Nobody can imagine that our voice in the European Union will carry weight as of today," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC on June 24. He said the result of the referendum likely pleased Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I suspect this morning (Putin) is feeling a little less pressure and he’ll be feeling a bit more upbeat about his prospects of eventually getting these European Union sanctions watered down," Hammond added.

Any impact of the Brexit vote on the EU's policy toward Russia is unlikely to be immediate, experts say. The process of Britain leaving is expected to take two years or more, during which time it will remain an EU member.

EU diplomats, meanwhile, agreed earlier this week to prolong Ukraine-related sanctions targeting Russia by another six months.

But Petras Austrevicius, a liberal member of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee from Lithuania, said that Britain "has always been a staunch and a very stable partner in terms of shaping the EU's policy toward Russia" and that "any diminishing" of its role in the bloc would negatively impact this policy.

"I believe it was very much in the Russian interest to see Brexit happen. Now we see a reality which is absolutely unfortunate, and this is a great sense of joy in the Kremlin," Austrevicius told RFE/RL. "In general terms, Brexit will in fact make the EU policy toward Russia less effective."

Polish politician Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, a member of European Parliament with the center-right European People's Party faction, told RFE/RL that the EU is more likely to waver on its Russian sanctions with Britain on its way out.

Poland, like Lithuania, is on Russia's western flank and was under Moscow's domain during Soviet times. Both countries are among the most vocal critics of the Kremlin in the EU and NATO.

Saryusz-Wolski said Poland will have "to compensate for the loss of Britain" in advocating for a tougher line on Moscow.

"So [it will be] an even bigger challenge ahead of Poland, an even more difficult task. But we have no choice. We have to live with it," he said.

Some members of the Russian political elite, including Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, have also suggested that Britain's exit from the EU will soften the bloc’s stance on Russia sanctions.

Putin, however, said on June 24 that he does not believe Brexit will influence EU sanctions policy.  Add Comments>> 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

  

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