A NEW ARCHITECTURE FOR EU-RUSSIA RELATIONS

Russia has long viewed Europe as an important reference point for values, a civilizational model worthy of emulation. This attitude is rooted in long-standing intellectual traditions, and following the collapse of the Soviet Union Russians genuinely considered the “European path” as the preferred scenario for the country’s development. At some point, that sense of cultural and historical solidarity with Europe was transferred to the European Union as the current form of its institutional organization.