(AGENPARL) – BRUXELLES ven 01 luglio 2022 Looking back on the implosion of the Soviet Union in late 1991, this Briefing reflects on the debate in the Parliament about its possible consequences at the time. It shows that a clear majority of MEPs initially remained keen on the transformation of the Soviet Union into some kind of ‘new Union’. They were concerned both about the dire economic situation in several Soviet republics, and about the maintenance of effective control over the Soviet Union’s huge nuclear arsenal. Since 1988 the EP, like the European Community in its entirety, had treated the case of the three Baltic republics as distinct. After all, Western countries had never recognised their illegal occupation and integration into the Soviet Union by Stalin. In contrast, the EP debates and resolutions hardly addressed the long-term future of the remaining post-Soviet space, including Ukraine and Moldova, which was not yet seen as a direct or primary concern of the Community at the time of the negotiations leading up to its transformation into the European Union with the Maastricht Treaty. As this Briefing also shows, however, some MEPs across the political divide were already expressing their deep concerns about the possible revival of Russian imperialism as a threat to its neighbours and a challenge to the European Community / European Union.

Fonte : © Unione europea, 2022 – PE

Fonte/Source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/it/document/EPRS_BRI(2022)733579