Abstract
As two islands situated separately from the European mainland and at an appreciable distance from Russia, the United Kingdom and Ireland are relatively independent of Russia and its politics. That said, both are as susceptible to the pressures of the globalising world and thus, for both, Russia is a state that warrants attention, albeit in the case of each, for quite different reasons. Close geographically and historically, Ireland and the UK are nevertheless vastly different foreign policy actors, not least by virtue of the one having been colonized by the other. They are distinguished today by disparities in size, resources and global influence and inevitably these factors too result in each having quite different relations with Russia. Those differences extend to each state’s relationship with the EU as well: Ireland’s reputation within the EU is a positive one, that of a committed and well-adapted member state; the UK, meanwhile, is most often characterized as an ‘awkward’ partner, whose attitude to EU membership is ambivalent at best. This chapter seeks first to identify the basis for and nature of Irish and British relations with Russia. In the case of Ireland, the relationship is primarily an economic rather than political one. For the UK, both economics and politics figure highly and interactions between the UK and Russia are more intensive and extensive than in the Irish case. It is of little surprise, therefore, that the UK has experienced far more problems in its relations with Russia than has Ireland. With the nature of the relationships established, I move on to consider Irish and British relations with the EU. In examining the impact of these bilateral relationships with Russia on the EU, I argue that neither case presents many problems for the EU, albeit for quite different reasons. The chapter concludes with a short discussion on the contribution of each member state to EU-level attempts to adopt a unified Russia policy.