Does Medvedev read spy novels?

His predecessor, Vladimir Putin, certainly didn't have to -- he was trained as a KGB agent.

While one won't be able to answer the above question without consulting Medvedev personally, the man certainly knows the material: "If I may use the language of (British spy novelist John) Le Carre, Russia has returned from the cold," he said Thursday in Berlin, referring to Le Carre's 1963 novel "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold." It's quite a fitting reference to Le Carre, who in his works abstained from painting the good guy (NATO)-bad guy (Soviet) image sported in the works of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. Indeed, Le Carre in his novels implicated that the Soviet bloc and the NATO bloc were actually not so very different from each other.

Fitting because Medvedev, in his first visit to a Western country since assuming the presidency, called for a broader Euro-Atlantic community that included Russia, instead of one that was driven exclusively by Washington and a few European capitals.

"We should instead talk about a whole Euro-Atlantic space from Vancouver to Vladivostok," he said, speaking to an audience of political and business leaders in Berlin's Intercontinental Hotel.

Several times during his 25-minute speech on foreign policy, Medvedev highlighted Russia's ideological and cultural proximity to Europe, and lobbied for Russia's integration as an equal player into the Euro-Atlantic power sphere.

"By leaving behind the Soviet system, Russia has laid a basis for a state very compatible with the rest of Europe," he said.

Yet it's quite clear that Medvedev wants Russia's westward movement and not NATO's eastward expansion, which also has angered Putin in the past.

Russia's relations with the alliance would be "ruined for a long time" in case NATO expanded farther east, Medvedev warned. "Of course, there won't be a confrontation, but the price will be very high.''

Most of the Russian president's remarks, however, were conciliatory, and likely aimed at sparking trust in the Kremlin's intentions.

Medvedev even suggested the creation of a legally binding Euro-Russian security pact that would, based on the principles of the United Nations, help regulate divisive issues and handle mutual security interests. Such a treaty may eventually even help reduce the number of arms on the continent, Medvedev said, as the important problems the continent had to face, "like illegal immigration and global warming �� can't be solved militarily."

"If our predecessors managed to work out a Helsinki Act during the Cold War, why shouldn't we go further?" he asked, in a reference to the accords struck in the Finnish capital in 1975 that helped reduce Cold War tensions.

Earlier in the day Medvedev met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received the new president at Berlin's Tegel Airport. After private talks, the pair addressed the media, both clearly anxious to open a new chapter in German-Russian relations, which had suffered a bit in the past.

Merkel has struck a different tone with Moscow from that of her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder (a close personal friend of Putin's), and she has had differences with the Kremlin over a U.S.-planned missile defense system, Kosovo's independence and energy security. Merkel also has been quite outspoken when it comes to human-rights shortcomings. She now met a man who Western observers hope will modernize Russia and lead it on a westward course. While politicians will have to keep in mind that Medvedev only won the presidential election in March because he enjoyed the backing of Putin, the new president is of a new generation and has no ties to the Russian spy circles.

Medvedev, a lawyer by profession, on Thursday vowed to fight corruption, strengthen the Russian middle class, secure press freedom and, above all, boost the rule of law.

"Many people ask me what kind of policy one can expect from Russia," said Medvedev. "I will say this from the start: In international as well as in domestic affairs we will first and foremost insist on the supremacy of law."

While Medvedev reiterated many of the foreign policy goals of his predecessor, he did so using much more diplomatic words that focused on cooperation instead of confrontation -- and that's already an improvement.

At the end of his foreign policy speech, Medvedev announced that German-Russian relations had in store a "magnificent future." The audience, including German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, responded with loud applause.

Klaus Mangold, the head of a German-Russian business council, said one should be optimistic in dealing with Medvedev.

"One has to give him a big chance," he told German news channel n-tv. "And I am sure that he will seize it."

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