The European Leadership Network (ELN) released a report over the weekend recommending measures to reduce tensions between NATO and Russia. The report is the result of a series of discussions led by ELN members Sergey Rogov, the Academic Director of the U.S.A-Canada Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Alexey Gromyko, director of the Academy’s Institute of Europe, on how NATO and Russia might reduce the risk of inadvertent conflict. Some 30 people made up the experts group, including retired diplomats and military officers from the United States, Russia, and Europe. “While members of the group differed over the root causes of the current crisis, they share a common concern that as tension builds between Russia and NATO, there is a growing danger of a real military confrontation,” the ELN release reports.
The discussions resulted in 7 recommendations, signed by 145 prominent individuals from 20 countries, calling on leaders in the United States, Russia and Europe to demonstrate the political will for urgent actions in order to reduce the risks of military conflict.
The recommendations are as follows:
1) Re-establishing practical dialogue between Russia and NATO, including direct contacts between the military commanders and experts of Russia and NATO member states.
2) Developing common rules that will reduce the risk of unintended incidents on land, air and sea.
3) Enhancing stability by increasing transparency, avoiding dangerous military activities, and providing dedicated communication channels that would avoid escalation of incidents that might occur.