The President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy addressed the students of the European University at St. Petersburg and its distinguished guests, professors and representatives of the media while visiting St. Petersburg to participate in the G20 Summit hosted by Russia this year.
The beautifully decorated White Hall of the University, which in itself is a symbol of Russian and Western European cultural and architectural dialogue was full of those who had come to listen to Mr. Van Rompuy’s half-hour speech. Within just a few minutes of the announced beginning of the event Alexei Kudrin, Russia’s former Minister of Finance and member of the EUSP Board of Trustees, introduced Herman Van Rompuy telling in more detail about his previous post as the Prime Minister of Belgium and Van Rompuy’s brief biography and political background noting that he is known as a politician with a good sense of compromise, who also loves poetry and literature in general. Kudrin even suggested Dutch-speakers to follow Van Rompuy in Twitter. It did not take too long before Herman Van Rompuy could prove and demonstrate himself, that he masters not only politics and diplomacy, but also Russian classic literature.
The President of the European Council started his speech by specifying at least three reasons why it was a pleasure for him to speak at the European University at St. Petersburg. The first, as he underlined, is the fact, that the EUSP is known as a great place for learning with strong ties to the academia in both Russia and Europe and a high quality of teaching. The second reason has been apparent for Van Rompuy since about ten years ago, when he visited St. Petersburg as a tourist. It is the charm of the city, that he wanted to underline and note that St. Petersburg is a symbolic city where the early elites thought of modernizing the Russia of their times. It is here that Russia and Europe met and the European University today stands proud along this tradition. Mr. President said he was informed by the EUSP rector Oleg Kharkhordin about the University’s plans for renovating the Small Marble Palace (EUSP main building- G.A.) by inviting highly acclaimed architects from Europe and Russia to participate in the initial planning stage. The third reason, Van Rompuy said, is that it has been nearly two decades since we have a new, more open Russia and this is just the right time to see what part could Russia play in Europe and the world.
He then briefly reminded of the importance of history and what Russia and Europe have always shared in common. The need to look back at the past was supported by Rompuy’s first literary quote from 19th century Russian philosopher Pyotr Chaadayev, who has once said that ‘just as individuals are moral beings, so are nations, and as people are taught by the passing years, so are nations taught by the centuries’.
As Europeans (Russians in this case seemed to be incorporated into the European family), we all know each other, read each other’s literature, listen to music and believe in one God,- Van Rompuy said. Perhaps, we could say we are a family, but I would be careful here,- he concluded. Then Leo Tolstoy’s ‘Anna Karenina’ came to help Herman Van Rompuy to make a timely quote: ‘All happy families resemble one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’. He only added that he believes the European family can be happy in its own way. Mr. President made sure to mention Dostoevsky, since the meeting was taking place in St. Petersburg, however, as it turned out, when he was once asked about his most favorite book, Van Rompuy’s spontaneous answer was ‘War and Peace’ by Leo Tolstoy. He said he enjoys reading that book and even the chapters which most other readers usually like to skip. These are chapters where Tolstoy is concerned about impressively powerful forces which are hard to overcome even by the Tsar or Napoleon. Having said that, Van Rompuy wished to point out that despite St. Petersburg has been renamed from Leningrad nearly two decades ago, still we should not forget about the Soviet past and scars left in the short 20th century. Russian-Polish relations and the recognition of the Katyn events could be viewed as a positive step towards reconciliation, though.
Van Rompuy stated that all European states want good relations with Russia and consider it their most important neighbor but sometimes expectations can be higher and disappointment- deeper. We all want peace and security but we might not always know how to get there. The good news is, however, that our countries are already deeply involved. Trade could be only one example, since about half of Russia’s external trade is with the EU today and when it comes to energy, Europe is Russia’s client. However, membership is beyond statistics,- Van Rompuy made clear,- it is also the spirit that matters. Within a few general ideas that he then mentioned, freedom of identity, including sexual, was made sure to be underlined. When speaking about the possible visa-free travel between Russia and Europe, Van Rompuy only said that it cannot be done overnight but the interested parties are making progress. Then he mentioned some of the common neighbors, such as Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova. We believe,- Van Rompuy said,- that an Association Agreement with Ukraine would not damage Russian-Ukrainian relations. We have overcome the Cold War and we are proud. In this regard, problems such as that of Transnistria could also be overcome, he added. Just look at what have France and Germany gone through. On a separate note about Georgia Herman Van Rompuy welcomed the resuming economic ties between Georgia and Russia but stated again that the EU supports Georgia’s territorial integrity. What happens in Libya and Syria now was qualified as a tectonic shift by Van Rompuy. The international community can’t remain idle, the status quo is unacceptable but we believe that a non-military solution is necessary in Syria,- said Van Rompuy and stated that Russia has a key role in helping bring the parties of the conflict to the negotiations table. He reminded once again that we are no longer living in a bipolar world, it is not even multi-polar and, if anything at all, it would be called an ‘a-polar world’.
Before concluding his speech, Herman Van Rompuy once again quoted Leo Tolstoy. His most favorite character from the ‘War and Peace’ is Pierre Bezukhov, said Van Rompuy. Bezukhov found it impossible to change one’s views with words and was excited by the contradictions between different people or between an individual’s words and deeds. He considered those differences and contradictions to be a source of sympathy. In the end, by turning once again to the quote from ‘Anna Karenina’, Van Rompuy said he is sure and hopes we will become a happy family in our own way.
The guests had an opportunity to ask questions to the President afterwards. Michelle Diaz, an MA student of the IMARES program at the EUSP was the first to ask:
‘Though Armenia has spent years in negotiations with the European Union in efforts to strengthen trade relations, it has recently abandoned the free trade agreement to join the Custom's Union headed by Russia. Furthermore, Russia has taken more aggressive steps with respect to Ukraine, by levying trade restrictions which are largely seen as an attempt to deter the government from forming more agreements with the EU. Are you concerned that even more countries will be swayed by Russia's increasingly aggressive stance towards Europe, and what future implications does this Russia led coalition have for the Western world?’
Mr. Van Rompuy answered that Armenia, Moldova, and, if possible, Ukraine will hopefully sign the Association Agreement at the Vilnius Summit in November, 2013. This is a political agreement,- he added. The Agreement would allow Armenia to go through comprehensive change both politically and economically. Therefore, after getting the news about Armenia’s plans of joining the Custom’s Union the EU expects to hear from Armenia what her further plans are. We have not received official explanations from Armenia yet,- Van Rompuy said,- yet we don’t think this is a zero sum game and the same refers to Ukraine. Some benchmarks will be necessary to meet. There are some outstanding issues but we hope to see results in Vilnius,- he continued,- we are still engaged with these countries and still expect to sign the Association Agreements.
Elena Belokurova, a research fellow of the EUSP Center for European Studies, asked Van Rompuy to speak also about the differences between Russia and Europe. It is easy to underline what is commonly shared but dealing with the differences is a challenging task. Van Rompuy started the answer with a brief account of his early childhood saying that his parents were from different communities and he lived in Belgium which is a country with big differences between its various parts. Having differences is a rule of life,- he said. Brilliant people, he finds, will be able to reconcile without needing to pay the high price that Europe did. Let us do it in a more peaceful way, not to build it on graves of millions,- Van Rompuy concluded.
The last question was asked by Alexey Chernulich, a student of the EUSP Economics Department: ‘In the face of internal and external crises are there any plans to change the Maastricht criteria that not only newcomers of euro zone would have to comply with, but also the current members of the Union?’
Herman Van Rompuy agreed that this was a very practical question. What we can do,- he said,- is to expect that members overcome excessive problems not overnight but over time. On the other hand, some issues and initial hardships may even become an impetus for economic growth, therefore the EU has decided to be more soft and flexible but yet not to ignore the Maastricht criteria. What is considered important is the pace and tempo of coping with obstacles and meeting the requirements. By looking back at what his native Belgium and the European Union have gone through towards economic success recently and particularly the past several months, Van Rompuy said he is now a much happier President than he was last year.
The optimism was supported by the EUSP rector Oleg Kharkhordin, who expressed hope that we can prove Tolstoy right as Van Rompuy had told him at a meeting before the lecture. Kharkhordin said he was glad that Russian and European relations have been reset today and he hopes Pierre Bezukhov’s quote and the interesting interpretation of the line from ‘Anna Karenina’ within this context could indeed open a new way.
Gevorg Avetikyan
