VIENNA (Sputnik) — Europe needs Russia in many different areas, including to preserve the regional security, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday.
“There is no European security architecture without Russia. Europe needs Russia in many different fields," Juncker said in Vienna at the European Forum Alpbach anniversary event.
The issue of collective European security in the post-Cold War era has escalated over the past year, when relations between Russia and the Western states soured amid the Ukrainian crisis.
The West kept accusing Moscow of meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs and supporting the country’s pro-independence militias. In response to what it called “Russian aggression,” NATO boosted its military presence close to Russia’s borders.
Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations of Russian interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine.
