From Cooperative to Contested Europe? The Conflict in Ukraine as a Culmination of a Long-Term Crisis in EU–Russia Relations

Abstract

The article looks at the European Union's (EU) attempts at ordering the Pan-European space and how Russia has sought to position itself in the EU-centric unipolar order and how that has affected the development of EU–Russia relations during the post-Cold War era. The analysis will move in four successive steps: (i) the development of the EU's attempts at hegemonic, post-sovereign ordering is reconstructed; (ii) the development of EU–Russia relations in light of these processes is analysed; (iii) then, the crisis in Ukraine as a certain culmination point is discussed; (iv) the article ends with conclusions concerning the development of EU–Russia relations in light of the problematic as well as an assessment of the significance of this particular facet in the wider processes of ordering discussed in the Special Issue together with a prognosis concerning the future.

Keywords::

• EU
• Russia
• European security
• Ukraine

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Tuomas Forsberg, Petteri Vuorima¨ki as well as the anonymous referees for useful comments on earlier drafts of this article. The usual disclaimer applies.

Notes

¹ A note on terminology: The Maastricht Treaty entered into force in November 1993, turning the European Community (EC) into the European Union (EU). When referring to events before that date, the term EC is used. After that, the EU is the norm and all possible references to the ‘Community’ refer to the former first community pillar of the European Union.

² The PCA was adopted for the period of 10 years, and it entered into force in December 1997. December 2007 did not witness the termination of the Agreement, however, because it stipulates that it will be ‘automatically renewed year by year provided that neither Party gives the other Party written notice of denunciation of the Agreement at least 6 months before it expires’. PCA, Article 106. Despite all the problems chronicled in this article, this has not transpired and the PCA remains valid and in force.

³ I want to thank the anonymous reviewer for pointing this fact out to me.