Rosenberg: What one Russian square says about relations with West

Back on (former) Europe Square, what do passers-by make of the change to Eurasia?

“It’s the right decision,” Olga tells me. “We’re not friends with Europe right now. I don’t want to be in Europe.”

“Eurasia is good,” says Anna. “Russia borders Europe and Asia. I was born in Kazakhstan, so this is fine with me.”

“Europe has different standards now,” Pasha tells me. “They think in a different way. We’re gradually splitting away.”

But Yevgeniya is disappointed. She sees the name change as “a sign of conflict between different countries.

“It’s so sad,” she adds.

But at the end of the day, does a name really matter?

Following the 1917 Russian Revolution so many streets and squares in Russia were renamed to feature the word “communism”. Did it help the Soviet Union build communism? Not in the slightest.

The decision to ditch the word Europe from a square doesn’t mean that Russia won’t one day, once again, look West.