Op nieuwe kansen met aantreden nieuwe Russische president Medvedev gehoopt (en)

Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as the Russian federation's new president on Wednesday (7 May), while former president Vladimir Putin is now set to be the country's prime minister.

The 42-year-old former lawyer won the March presidential elections with a large majority and will be the youngest Russian president in 100 years.

For his part, former president Putin will still have a word to say on Russia's policies and politics, as he was immediately nominated as the country's prime minister. The position is to be formally confirmed on Thursday (8 May) by the Russian parliament.

"I believe my most important aims will be to protect civil and economic freedoms," Mr Medvedev said after his swearing-in ceremony.

"We must fight for a true respect of the law and overcome legal nihilism, which seriously hampers modern development," he added, according to Reuters.

The new Russian president will have to face an important set of challenges, both on the internal and external stage.

These include high corruption levels, rising inflation, a shrinking population, problems in the industry and agriculture sectors, as well as increasingly tense relations with both Russia's former Soviet neighbours and the West.

Moscow's relations with the EU have been in the doldrums for some time, and hit a new low last week after the 27-nation bloc failed to agree on opening partnership talks with Moscow due to Lithuania's objections.

Vilnius has requirements on a variety of issues, such as Russian energy supplies, judicial cooperation, and frozen conflicts - particularly in Georgia and Moldova.

The deadlock has been impassible now for 18 months, following previous opposition by Poland.

Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, is this week travelling to Lithuania to try to break the stalemate, while EU foreign ministers are meeting again in Brussels on 26 May.

According to analysts, member states should overcome their divisions and the EU as a whole should be Russia's main partner from now on, allowing for "a stronger European voice".

"During the eight years of the Putin presidency, the European Union has failed to define and defend a common policy towards a resurgent Russia. It has also consistently punched below its weight as Russia has skilfully played divide-and-rule within the EU," stated Andrew Wilson, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.

"The change from Putin to Medvedev offers EU leaders a new opportunity to coalesce around a shared strategy, but it may also bring renewed outbreaks of infighting," he continued.

Meanwhile, Russia's relations with neighbouring Georgia have been rapidly deteriorating in the last few weeks, after Moscow decided to extend its relations with Georgia's breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The EU has said it would discuss how to ease the tension between the two countries during an EU-Russia summit in Siberia at the end of June.