Will Russia be able to live without European Union?

Even before the invasion of Crimea started, Russia and European Union did not have a good relationship which had resulted in many heated disputes. However, after Russia annexed Crimea, conflicts have become more complex and serious. Many Russian citizens who are pro-kremlin, after the annexing of Crimea became even more euro-skeptical and demanded Russia to Cut the ties with Europe and start cooperating with Asia, so they could utilize all of the benefits that such great economy could offer. Russia would benefit politically too, because countries in Asia do not particularly focus on the human right issues. The Europe or Asia topic has been discussed in Russia for centuries and this, for Russia, seems like a suitable moment to re-orientate towards Asia. But even if Russia would want to re-orientate to Asia market, would it be possible for Russia to isolate themselves from the European Union. There are a lot of arguments that oppose this Asia plan.

First of all, it is demography. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Russian citizens got the taste of the western culture, the Russian society started to become more pro-European. The population in the closest regions to Asia has decreased[1]^, [2] and that is poor because those are the regions that should play a key role in the cooperation with Asia. There are many reasons for people to leave Eastern Russia. The subsidies for working there are not as big anymore, the climate is bad and the salaries are just bigger in the western region of Russia. A significant part of Russia’s population has been born in the European side of the Russia, i.e. Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, and because basically it is Europe, one could say that those Russians have been born and raised in Europe.

Secondly, the current Russia’s economic structure makes the efforts to isolate themselves from European Union practically impossible. Since 1998 Russia has always had a positive trade balance.[3] They have been importing a lot of stuff from Western-Europe.[4] Data from Trading Economics about year 2012 tells us that Russia’s imports reached 245 billion dollars of which 65% were various tools and transport mechanisms.[5]