Why did Russia never try to become part of the European Union after the end of the cold war, like many other eastern european nations or ex-soviet republics did/do?

by leopold_s
Acritas

Out of curiosity - why do you think Russia has never tried?

First russian president Boris Yeltsin applied for membership (strictly speaking, consulted about "possibility to join") in NATO and EU (1991) and was rejected.

With EU the sticking point was banking. Since rouble was very weak, opening banking to EU would mean a takeover and loss of financial independence.

With NATO the sticking point was the size of USSR and NATO fears of too much influence. NATO feared that USSR military would absorb all other european forces. Sort of reverse of banking situation for EU.

Sources

  1. SOVIET DISARRAY; Yeltsin Says Russia Seeks to Join NATO. By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, Published: December 21, 1991 NY

  2. Russia Wants In, But EU Still Cold On Economic Ties. By Justin Burke, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor / December 13, 1993