EU-Russia relations have been traditionally characterized by the dichotomy between conflict and cooperation. This has influenced the abstract nature of the EU-Russia strategic partnership which does not focus on security issues. However, the Ukraine crisis has had a deep impact on the EU’s foreign policy and its approach towards Russia. It highlighted that the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood is characterized by intense geopolitical competition with Russia. The crisis also underscored the weakness of the EU’s technocratic approach in its relations with Russia and post-Soviet space. On the other hand, Russia’s actions in Ukraine have made the member states more willing to act together and recognise Russia as a security threat. In turn, EU-Russia relations have entered a period of stalemate.
In this context, the paper looks at how security issues have influence EU foreign policy towards Russia and post-Soviet space since the inception of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in 2004 to up until the announcement of the revision of the ENP in early 2015. It achieves this by focusing particularly on three key moments which have made the EU frame in more geopolitical terms its relation with Russia and the post-Soviet space. Moreover, the paper highlights that Russia’s actions in Ukraine have strengthened in Brussels and in various European capitals the idea that the EU has to develop a clear security strategy for the region.
