The European Union could have done more to adjust to the ever-changing situation in Ukraine, Slovakia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák has told TASR.
“It's not enough to point our finger at Russia; we need to talk about things that we did wrong. What was a political process for Russia was merely a bureaucratic exercise for us. We couldn't realize the political scope of the situation and respond to it in an appropriate way,” said Lajčák. The Minister went on to say that the European Union failed to understand certain signals that Moscow wasn't happy with the countries of the Eastern Partnership getting closer to the EU and that it could view the inking of association agreements [with some of these countries] as a threat. Lajčák observed that relations with Russia are at their lowest since the end of the Cold War. That's why he expects the new European Commission to do its utmost to redefine the European Union's ties with Moscow. He also warned that Russia is too big a player to be ignored. “It's a global player and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, dealing with a whole range of international issues, such as Afghanistan, terrorism, Iran, and disarmament. This can't be ignored,” emphasized Lajčák.
