Why the Europeans don’t have a Russia policy – opinion 18 Flag of the European Union / J. Stacevičius/LRT While the Baltics and Poland push for a hard line on Russia, the leaders of the EU’s institutions and member governments need Germany to shape a strategic policy toward Russia. But Chancellor Angela Merkel is not prepared to take on this task. Judy Dempsey writes for Carnegie Europe. EU foreign ministers agreed on February 22 to impose new sanctions on Russia. The move followed the sentencing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to a three-year prison term. Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said there was “a shared assessment [...] that Russia is drifting towards an authoritarian state and driving away from Europe”.