José Ignacio Torreblanca on transatlantic relations and Russia

In El País newspaper José Ignacio Torreblanca analyses the consequences of the EU's weariness with enlargement. Some countries are focusing more on accession to Nato than accession to the EU of late. This, he points out, has implications for relations with Russia: "Many Europeans quite rightly fear that Nato expansion will only further polarise ties with Russia. On the other hand it is just as easy to understand the desire of these countries to join Nato as it is to find arguments against such a move. It's obvious that this Russia, which is so fond of threats and aggression, cannot be allowed to decide who becomes a Nato member and who doesn't, and that Nato cannot tolerate zones of influence or regimes with restricted sovereignty. It would be a different matter if the European Union functioned as it's supposed to and was in a position to tell the US: Thanks for the offer, but we'll take care of things. But yet again it will be the US that makes the decisions and Europe will simply be left to deal with the consequences if Europeans are unable to reach an agreement and take the issue of relations with Russia into their own hands."

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