Russia has created a new government department, the European Problems Department, to deal with issues related to the European Union (EU) and NATO, according to Russian media, on Monday, the 4th of November, reports Politico.
The unit already existed in the Russian foreign ministry, but was previously known as the Department of European Cooperation, but last week it was given a much juicier name – the Department of European Problems.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told local media that the name change reflected “changes in geopolitical reality”, including “the obvious degradation of multilateral cooperation structures in Europe”.
Russia’s relations with Europe have been frozen and deteriorated since the beginning of 2022, when Russia carried out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the EU, in support of Ukraine, has imposed extensive sanctions on the Kremlin and seized Russian assets.
Moscow announced its withdrawal from the Council of Europe in March 2022 and suspended its membership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in July this year.
Russia launches Department of European Problems to deal with the EU
