The Meseberg Initiative 2010: Germany as a Deal-Maker

Abstract

The Meseberg initiative was the most ambitious German policy initiative in the area of security policy with Russia: Germany concluded a bilateral memorandum on behalf of the EU, yet without the EU’s formal endorsement, encouraged by the context of a seemingly reform-minded President Medvedev and a pro-European government in Moldova. This demonstrated Germany’s confidence that it could grasp a win-win opportunity: Solving a conflict in the neighbourhood and at the same time proving that Russia can be a constructive actor in the neighbourhood. To that end, Germany applied a more assertive approach through issue linkage to incentivise the EU and Russia to make progress in relations. However, the Meseberg initiative became an example of only minor German influence on EU policy: Neither has the initiative been implemented by the EU, nor was the conflict in Transnistria solved with Russia’s support. The Meseberg initiative demonstrated the limits of Germany’s approach: Germany was criticised for its bilateral “deal-making” with Russia and member states were reluctant to take ownership. Instead of advancing the EU-Russia relationship, the initiative contributed to frustration on both sides.