Shestopal E.B., Gubchenko V.A., Davydov S.V., Dzhamaludinov Sh.Z., Dzhgamadze K.B., Levashkina A.A., Marudina Yu.A., Rogozar' A.I., Tumysov I.A. The EU in the eyes of the contemporary Russian society

Abstract: The study is carried out by the department of sociology and psychology of politics of the faculty of political science of Moscow State University. The research is focused on the image of the EU as it is apprehended by the Russian citizens in the period of straining relations between Russia and the EU. The authors have carried out the survey and offered the respondents to answer the following questions: Do you consider the EU as a partner, an enemy, or a friend of Russia? Do you consider the EU as a strong and effective actor on the international scene? How do you estimate the anti-Russian sanctions of the EU? The analysis of the answers led the authors to the particular conclusions. The research methodology is based on the system, structural-functional, comparative-political approaches, the methods of political sociology and political psychology, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, and observation. The image of the EU is notable for its ambivalence and instability. The main conclusion lies in the fact that most respondents consider the EU as a strong but a gradually weakening under the American influence “decorative union”. The image has the signs of ageing. Most people see the EU as a partner. But many respondents are disappointed in it as in a partner, and think that it is unreliable and unfaithful. Approximately a quarter of the respondents consider the EU as an enemy, and only a small number of people see it as a friend. At the same time, the respondents don’t see the alternative to good neighbourly relations and partnership in future. Moreover, most respondents see Russia as a part of Europe. 

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