ENHANCING CITIZEN DIPLOMACY BETWEEN THE EU AND RUSSIA

Citizen diplomacy, also known as “track two” diplomacy, is the idea that unofficial contacts between ordinary people can eventually pave the way for official or “track one” diplomacy. The contacts between people can build mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation, which proves to be highly beneficial when official negotiations and government interactions occur. As citizen diplomats, the individual citizen has the power and right to influence the image of their native country abroad.

Citizen diplomacy needs to be fostered to differentiate people with the policies and actions of  government. People to people relationships should be encouraged so that positive outlooks on respective countries can be sustained in the long run. Citizen diplomats act as unofficial ambassadors in their everyday travels abroad, through their participation in international exchange programs, and as hosts for international guests at home.

The important role of people-to-people diplomacy lies in its well-entrenched and great influence on people’s mind, thus offering solid foundation for the long-term exchange between countries and governments.

Suggestions for Strengthening People-to-People Diplomacy between EU and Russia

(1) Bring into full play the guiding and supporting role of governments on both sides and eliminate the obstacles hindering the development of people-to-people diplomacy. On the one hand, people-to-people diplomacy is the necessary complement for official diplomacy; on the other hand, people-to-people diplomacy calls for the support from the respective governments. The strengthening of people-to-people diplomacy between the EU and Russia demands that both sides allocate resources efficiently and reasonably in the following aspects. One is to set up more organizations devoted in exchange and communication, thus offering more platforms for carrying out people-to-people diplomacy. The second is to strengthen communication and coordination so as to resolve visa related issues for visiting each other. The EU should promote simplifying visa procedures, especially the procedures for medium and long-term visa for academic and business purposes.

(2) Exchange for academic and educational purposes should be strengthened. Scholars are the elites of a society. The role of academic exchange in people-to-people diplomacy should focus on the importance and visits, seminars and joint research conducted by scholars and academic institutions should be encouraged and sponsored. In addition, from a medium or long-term perspective, the exchanging of students is one of the best and most effective means of people-to-people diplomacy. Each student studying in Russia or in the EU has the potential of becoming a folk diplomat. The EU should strengthen the support for EU students to study in Russia, especially in terms of financial support, and offer a good learning and living environment for students.

(3) Support and promote Business Partnerships Matchmaking Programmes targeted at assisting Russian industrial companies, inter alia SMEs, in production, R&D and services with business partnership proposals, including investment projects, to identify potential business partners in Europe. Likewise assisting European companies, inter alia SMEs, to identify potential business partners in Russia.

(4) Intensify international cooperation in science and technology. Facilitate the networking of research organisations and institutions in Russia and the European Union, and  promote scientific dialogue between Russia and EU Member States, especially researchers, developers and scientists  who are interested in carrying out cross-border research projects, gaining experience in cooperating with the European Union, and conducting further research on the results of joint projects.

(5) Special attention should be given to exchange between the media. For one thing, media can put pressure on the government and influence the policy making of the government. For the other thing, media can guide public opinion and win support from ordinary people. In recent years, for the purpose of attracting attention, European media made lots of negative reports on Russia-some of the reports are even deliberately distorted or defaced. For this reason, EU media should be more active in communicating with their Russian counterparts and offer them more real stories and information about the EU , so as to enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples, and create a good atmosphere of public opinion supporting the steady and good relations between the two sides.

(6) A series of good means of interaction and communication should be employed. People-to-people diplomacy is mainly targeted at ordinary people and the form of such exchange is extremely important- the means of people-to-people diplomacy should be amiable, reliable and go deep into the hearts of the people. People enjoying popularity in both the EU and Russia, such as movie stars, sports stars, social celebrities, or renowned scholars can be invited to serve as the goodwill ambassadors for people-to-people diplomacy. With the appeal and influence of the goodwill ambassadors, understanding and trust between the two peoples are expected to be enhanced.

Citizen diplomats are motivated by the impacts they expect, both on themselves as direct participants and more indirectly on society. The impact on individuals who participate directly in such initiatives is seen in the friendships they develop. Individuals see the humanity of "the other” and in doing so they see their own humanity more clearly. They explain to the other side their understanding of the situation and possible ways forward and listen to explanations by "the other” in a way that both sides learn a more multifaceted understanding of each other.  Citizen diplomats hope that through their efforts social trust will gradually grow, more people will understand more about the concerns of both sides, and the official negotiators will benefit from that increased understanding as they make lasting agreements.

Citizen diplomats need to take their insights to their own society’s conversations more. Doing so will require both that political leadership be more welcoming of the value of these insights offered by citizen diplomats and that the citizen diplomats themselves speak up more. In this sense, people-to-people diplomacy will have more impact if its insights become more politically relevant.