Interview: One Day Post-Soviet Countries Will Rise Up?

Abstract

The interview of Andrew Schumann, the managing editor of Studia Humana with Andrew Wilson, a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Andrew Schumann: What is the role of the European Council on Foreign Relations? How does this institution cause decision-making in European foreign policy? Maybe some examples.
Andrew Wilson: The ECFR is a think-tank. It’s not a state body, or part of the EU. The web address is www.ecfr.eu because it is pan-European, with offices in seven major European capitals: London, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Rome, Madrid and Sofia. Its raison d’être is to influenced foreign policy thinking in the EU by lobbying the main Member States. We do not have an office in Brussels, so as not to be seen as a creature of the EU bureaucracy, but obviously we lobby it too. I think we have influenced the climate of opinion on key issues, such as shaping and reshaping the Eastern Partnership. Media work, op-eds in key papers, etc. all have an affect, but an inside track matters too. The EU works by consensus – the key is to offer policy ideas to the key decision-making points in the policy process. We are very happy for other top take on, even claim ownership of our ideas. We have built up relations with key decision-makers.