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2014 was moment of truth in relations between Russia and EU — diplomat

“The problems are rooted in the European Union’s wrong interpretation of its role," Russian Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said

MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. The outgoing year has proved to be “the moment of truth” in relations between Russia and the European Union, Russian Ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said on Friday.

“This year was marked by the difficulties that had emerged in Russia’s relations with the European Union and the West in general,” he said. “Problems have been heaping up for quite some time, from long before the state coup in Kiev.”

“The problems are rooted in the European Union’s wrong interpretation of its role. The European Union initially came into being with a goal to prevent another big war in Europe, since any big wars have always involved Germans and the French,” the Russian diplomat noted. “With time, it transformed into a kind of a ‘shining temple on top of a hill’ everybody was supposed to strive to get to.”

“Today, the temple looks not that shining as a great number of euroskeptics appeared. In the long run, the European Union has chosen the so-called ‘zone of common neighborhood’ as a target of its influence. This was how the Eastern Partnership was born. It was then that the seeds of differences were sown and these seeds have been growing ever since,” Chizhov said.

“This year can definitely be called the ‘moment of truth’ in relations with the European Union, when statements about partnership were only hiding problems,” he added.