EU summit waffles

The EU held a summit meeting today to discuss its policy towards Russia in the wake of the recent war in the Caucasus. As expected, the EU called for more negotiations rather than sanctions. It warned that EU-Russia ties were at a crossroads; urged Russia to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire that the EU helped broker; bemoaned Russia's decision to recognize the independence of Abkhasia and South Ossetia; and called for more diversification of energy supplies.

None of this is particularly surprising; indeed, it would have been amazing had the EU agreed to sanctions. The EU is dependent on Russian oil and gas and some EU member states, in particular Germany, rely on the Russian export market.

I do think this latest meeting has put a nail in the lid of the coffin of further EU integration as proposed in the Lisbon Treaty. The Central/East European member states (Poland, Hungary, the Baltic states, etc.) can read the tea leaves. I suspect they understand that, whatever EU common foreign policy will be in the future, there's absolutely no assurance it will reflect their vital security interests.