EU and Russian Hegemonic Power Over Time: From a Common Neighbourhood Policy Towards Differentiation

This chapter synthesises the diachronic comparison of the EU and Russia’s use of hegemonic power mechanisms (coercion, prescription, and co-optation) over time in Moldova and Armenia. It highlights how these mechanisms evolved and became more interlinked for the EU, while Russia developed them separately. The EU increasingly utilised conditionality and sanctions, linking these to the promotion of “European values” and food safety rules. As EU-Russia relations grew more contentious, Russia’s co-optation activities became more confrontational, emphasising the Othering of the EU. The analysis reveals that Russia’s use of coercion was closer to the ideal type, characterised by unilateral threats or punishments reacting to Western orientations in neighbourhood countries. The EU’s coercion, focused on rewards, demanded democratic and institutional reforms. In prescription, the EU’s approach, through extensive legislative approximation and regulatory obligations, was more coherent compared to Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) standards, which emulated EU norms but retained a product-focused safety approach.