Normative Contention: European Union and Russian Federation - The Case of the Northern Dimension

Vladimir Putin’s accession to power after 2000s not just brought new era to the Russian Federation but also provided new bounds for the EU-Russian relations. By solving the problems of internal instability and changing its political trajectory, President Putin restored state prestige and Russia returned to world politics with immense ambitions not being just an energy superpower. Not surprisingly normative discussions became an important part of the EU-Russian relations. This thesis proposes to discuss the European Union and the Russian Federation as Normative Powers in the region apart from existing energy relations. Admittedly, in case of energy the Russian Federation is considered one of the normative powers of the world politics. The core of the current strategy of Vladimir Putin is understood as Moscow seems to be ready to offer an alternative reading of a set of norms constituting their relations. During this study qualitative research and its appropriate methods were utilized. Three pioneering scholars were interviewed and for exploring Russian normativisim in trans-border cooperation the Northern Dimensions Initiative was selected as the single case. New institutionalism as a theoretical lens provided foundation to examine the current normative contention. Subsequently, under Putin's governance Russia has moved away from being a ‘norms-taker’ to being a ‘norms-maker’ and accordingly has become very normative offensive in cooperation with the European Union