The origins of this book go back to the colloquium ‘EU-Russia Relations: How to Get Out of the “Midlife” Crisis?’ organised under the auspices of Ghent University’s Russia Platform on 22 September 2017. This initiative brought together a number of scholars and practitioners from various disciplines to present their research on the evolution of relations between the European Union (EU) and Russia after the conflict in Ukraine and the adoption of the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy. To take stock of the most recent developments in the field, a follow-up workshop was organised in Ghent in October 2018. The present volume is the result of in-depth discussions on draft papers presented during those events. The organisers of the workshops, also being the editors of this book, would like to express their deep appreciation to all the contributors for their cooperation and commitment.

The aim of this book is to take stock of the implementation of the EU’s Global Strategy and the five principles that are currently guiding EU-Russia relations. In particular, it seeks to examine the implications of each of these principles for the EU’s relations with Russia and aims to assess the state of implementation and its challenges. In doing so, the book provides a forward-looking angle, in the sense that it wants to contribute to a better understanding of the current EU-Russia relationship and the prospects for overcoming the existing deadlock. By adopting an interdisciplinary perspective on EU-Russia relations, combining insights from EU studies, international relations, and European and international law, the book provides a comprehensive and holistic view to the current state of affairs.

Recent academic contributions to the literature on EU-Russia relations paint a rather bleak picture of the EU-Russia relationship, and see little scope for improvement due to the absence of a long‐term concept of cooperation and lack of a common vision of the future.¹ There is wide acknowledgement among scholars that the current crisis in EU-Russia relations is the culmination of a longer process of downward descent that had already been going on for more than a decade.² In trying to explain this gradual deterioration and the current deadlock of EU-Russia relations, several theoretical perspectives and lenses have been applied. While constructivists have pointed to the normative discord between the EU and Russia and their clash of identity,³ realists emphasise the power competition (especially in the shared neighbourhood),⁴ whereas others see an explanation in domestic factors.⁵

In line with previous studies, which have revealed the importance of images and perceptions in understanding EU-Russia relations,⁶ it has been a deliberate choice of this book to bring together academics working in different disciplines and in different academic environments. In particular, the inclusion of several Russian authors was deemed important to understand the various perspectives on the recent developments in EU-Russia relations. This is especially important considering that diverging images and perceptions can be major obstacles to the enhancement of relations between the EU and Russia.⁷ As demonstrated specifically in the chapter by Irina Petrova in this volume, the EU’s and Russia’s views on the events in Ukraine, the Minsk agreements and the sanctions regime differ significantly. The existence of diverging views and approaches is also reflected in other chapters. The extent – as well as the implications – of this profound discord between the EU and Russia is discussed in the concluding chapter, where an overall assessment is made of the five guiding principles for the development of EU-Russia relations.

In full respect of the authors’ personal preferences, and as an illustration of the divergent perceptions existing in the Russian and European academic worlds, the editors chose not to impose any harmonised rules with respect to the use of either Ukrainian or Russian spelling of terms (e.g., Kyiv versus Kiev; Donbas versus Donbass) nor with respect to the qualification of the events that unfolded in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

The structure of the book is based on the five guiding principles for EU-Russia relations. The first part is devoted to an analysis of the sanctions regime and the Minsk agreements as a crucial condition for the further development of EU-Russia relations. Sebastiaan Van Severen sketches the rocky road of the Minsk peace process and the challenges surrounding its implementation. Tony van der Togt focuses on the role of EU Member States, in particular Germany and the Netherlands, in EU decision-making on relations with Russia since the Ukraine crisis. Irina Petrova unravels the EU’s and Russia’s strategic narratives about the Minsk agreements and the sanctions regime, whereas Alexandra Hofer critically discusses the punitive effect of the EU’s restrictive measures against Russia. The final contributions of the first part, written by Kirill Entin and Celia Challet respectively, involve a legal analysis of the EU-Russia sanctions before the Court of Justice of the EU.

The second part looks at the EU’s objective to develop strengthened relations with its Eastern partners. Laure Delcour and Narine Ghazaryan look into the specific case of Armenia as a country balancing between European and Eurasian integration. Benedikt Harzl focuses specifically on the EU’s engagement with frozen conflicts and de facto states in the post-Soviet region. Finally, Igor Merheim-Eyre deals with the EU’s and Russia’s visa diplomacy in the shared neighbourhood.

The third part tackles the issue of ‘resilience to Russian threats’ as one of the principles guiding the EU’s policy towards Russia after the crisis in Ukraine. Elena Pavlova and Tatiana Romanova offer a critical assessment of the EU’s understanding of the concept of ‘resilience’ in the context of EU-Russia relations. Marco Siddi addresses the EU’s energy relationship with Russia, whereas Andreas Marazis focuses on the question of cyber security.

The fourth part touches on the EU’s ambition of ‘selective engagement’ with Russia in a number of specific policy areas; namely, cooperation in countering transnational security threats (Olga Potemkina), developing renewable energy strategies (Niels Smeets) and cooperation in relation to the Arctic (Thomas Kruessmann).

The fifth and last part relates to the EU’s approach towards Russia’s civil society and the promotion of people-to-people contacts. This includes contributions about evolving strategies towards the involvement of Russia’s civil society (Elena Belokurova and Andrey Demidov), the development of the EU’s cultural relations with Russia (Domenico Valenza) and EU-Russia cooperation in the sphere of higher education (Natalia Leskina). The book concludes with a number of general reflections about the implications of the Ukraine crisis and the challenges surrounding the implementation of the five guiding principles for the development of EU-Russia relations.

Fabienne Bossuyt and Peter Van Elsuwege

September 2020