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EU policy towards Russia shaped by aggressive anti-Russian minority — Lavrov

The principle of solidarity in the EU is implemented only one-sidedly because the EU’s entire position on the Russian Federation is built on the basis of the least denominator, Lavrov said

MOSCOW, June 7. /TASS/. The solidarity principle used in the European Union to elaborate policy towards Russia does not work as this policy is determined by the aggressive and anti-Russian minority of the EU member states, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"According to our observations, this principle [the principle of solidarity in the EU] is implemented only one-sidedly because the European Union’s entire position on the Russian Federation is built on the basis of the least denominator, which characterizes, in our opinion, the position of the minority of the member states but quite an aggressive and anti-Russia-minded minority," Lavrov said.

"Generally in theory, if we speak about the solidarity principle in some group context, then it is obvious that the talk should be about choosing the median line of movement that would also take into account views from the left and views from the right," the Russian foreign minister said.

According to Alfonso Dastis Quecedo, Spain maintains contacts with EU partners so that they can conduct "a dialog with Russia in certain areas in the interests of both sides, in order to counter global challenges, such as terrorism, climate change and in such areas where Russia’s participation is simply necessary."

"Therefore, we are trying to reconcile and combine the interests of Spain and its EU partners so that there can be an atmosphere of trust between Russia and the EU," the Spanish foreign minister said.

"Spain always wanted to have the best relations with Russia and, therefore, we’ll continue struggling," he added.