Interview Carl Bildt on the European Union

ENGLAND: London: INT Carl Bildt (Prime Minister of Sweden, 1991-1994) interview SOT - the agenda of the European Union is moving in the British direction - the single market issues, the trade issues, the digital issues, the competitiveness issues and foreign affirs issues / that needs to be understood Q:do you think Britain might fall out of the European Union? Carl Bildt SOT - you can hear some of them in parliament who clearly advocate 'independent isolationist cause for Britain' / that does worry me / Britain has been part of shaping Europe for centuries, has been shaped itself by Europe and to have a route to divorce would be painful and destructive Q: has Europe failed over Ukraine? Carl Bildt SOT - no, don't think so / don't know anyone, even most hawkish observers of Russia, who expected what we saw last year Q: no sense of urgency to solve this thing, is it because Putin is beyond negotiation? Carl Bildt SOT - at moment he looks like he's beyond negotiation / it is important to try and continue / sanctions and economic difficulties are starting to hit Russia hard / don't think that will change Putin short term - long term it might make it real Q: how do you regard Putin? Carl Bildt SOT - difficult to know his ideals / he doesn't accept the rules of the game that have been set up for peace, security and stability in Europe / it's a revisionist agenda / he's also a reactionary in ideological terms - he's against modern secular societies / he's saying we've got the guns, you've got the gays / that sort of approach / is this because he sees this as the way to preserve the power of the Kremlin / is he afraid of the Maidan in Russia / think he's more afraid of Maidan than of NATO Q: do you see the world in a most dangerous position since WWII? Carl Bildt SOT - it's true, that if you look at the world from a European perspective, that we've entered more dangerous times / will be very demanding for Europe / we can only mana...