Focusing back again on European Security: The Medvedev proposal as
an opportunity
Jordi Vaquer i Fanés, Director of CIDOB
In 2008 Russian President Dmitri Medvedev proposed in Berlin a new
approach to European Security, one which would secure borders and
guarantee the territorial integrity of states that Russia saw endangered
after the recognition of Kosovo’s independence by the vast majority of
Western democracies. The proposal of an overarching treaty is now
considered unworkable, but it has brought to the forefront the debate
about European Security that had been sidelined by a focus on terrorism,
the Middle East and Afghanistan in Western security agendas. This paper
suggests ten ways in which the momentum could be seized to improve the
general context of security in Europe, taking into account the issues
raised by the Russian government without necessarily accepting all of
its points of view. (...)
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