THE EUROPEAN UNION AND RUSSIA, COOPERATION OR COMPETITION?

The unfolding events in the Ukraine remind us of Georgia 2008 and make us wonder whether their impact and implications on the EU – Russia relations will be as deep and long-lasting. Although it is too soon to ponder on the implications of these events, we can already perceive the wave of tensions and disagreements that is spreading all around the European continent; tensions that once more prove that proper economic cooperation between the two actors is merely impossible to consider without taking into account the political ties between them. How can the EU enhance greater cooperation with Russia and solve Churchill’s "riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma"? Is the European Union vulnerable politically due to its energy dependence on Russia? Is the Russian economy dependent solely on its European consumers? Whose behaviour is more rational? Who holds the upper hand? This paper will focus on answering all these questions by analysing both actors in terms of power and will particularly highlight their paradigms, perceptions, needs and expectations from one another