Results of the Petersburg Dialogue

In Yekaterinburg, the Russian-German forum “Petersburg Dialogue” ended, during which the leaders of Russia and Germany held talks on prospects for further cooperation in various fields. This is not the first time the Ural capital has become the venue for meetings of the heads of the two states in the framework of the Russian-German government consultations, which began in 2000 by Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schroeder, when, at the peak of relations, Moscow and Berlin protested against the war in Iraq, and in 2005 agreed to build a North European gas pipeline. This time, the initiator of the choice of the meeting venue was Angela Merkel, who proposed holding a forum in one of the Russian regions a year ago. The first day of the meeting, July 14, was more informal, but the next morning Medvedev and Merkel spoke with Russian and German businessmen, discussing a number of joint projects in the automotive and railway industry, as well as the development of an innovation center in Skolkovo. Then, during the talks, the topic of visa-free relations with the European Union was touched upon; "I am confident," Dmitry Medvedev said, "that if there is goodwill and a desire to move cooperation in this area, we will eventually be able to reach the correct visa-free communication." Angela Merkel vowed to “commit to doing this,” which Russian media perceived as Germany’s willingness to help with the issue of visa abolition between Russia and the EU, but the German press is not so optimistic in its conclusions. Thus, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes that the visa regime really remains a barrier in relations between the two countries, but Merkel, in response to the proposal to abolish visas, stressed that “not everything will happen at once.” So far, only Albania has introduced a visa-free regime with Russia, and Croatia will follow in the summer in an effort to attract Russian tourists. They also discussed cooperation in the field of culture and education, during which the heads of state approved a plan to write a joint history textbook, and 2011 should be the Year of Russian-German Studies and Education. Not without a discussion of sensitive topics. Angela Merkel raised the issue of freedom of speech in Russia and the murder of human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, whose case has not yet been solved. The German Chancellor urged to pay special attention to this topic and find criminals. Merkel also recalled the expansion of the powers of the FSB, to which Dmitry Medvedev noted that "every country has the right to improve its legislation, including in relation to the special services." In general, the meeting of the leaders of Germany and Russia in Yekaterinburg was fruitful and demonstrated growing trust in each other, and if it is not necessary to talk about unconditional support of Germany to help Russia in the issue of visa abolition, then today we can be sure that the German side will take an active part in the modernization of the Russian economy.