The Russian Foreign Ministry has changed the name of the Department for Pan-European Cooperation to the Department for European Affairs.

Russia has created a new government department to work with the EU and NATO: The Department of European Problems, UNN writes with reference to Politico.

Details

According to Russian media, this unit already existed in the Russian Foreign Ministry, but was previously called the Department of Pan-European Cooperation before being renamed last week to the "much more spicy" Department of European Problems.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told local media that the name change reflects "changing geopolitical realities," including "the obvious degradation of multilateral cooperation structures in Europe.

Addendum

Russia's relations with Europe, Politico notes , have been in a deep freeze since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The EU has imposed sweeping sanctions on the Kremlin, seizing Russian assets and pledging support for Ukraine.

In March 2022, Moscow announced its withdrawal from the Council of Europe, and in July of this year it suspended its participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).