‘NORTHERN DIMENSION’ OF RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE EU: EXPERIENCE OF SPATIAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Abstract

Aim. An assessment is made of the goals, objectives and prospects of the Northern Dimension project (“ND”) using the methods of spatial discourse analysis Methodology. The database “Integrum” is the information source for the discourse analysis. At the first stage, articles from two federal newspapers -“Nezavisimaya Gazeta” (“Independent Newspaper”) and Rossiyskaya Gazeta (“Russian Newspaper”) - were selected for the content-analysis. At the second and the third stages, quantitative methods were used to obtain information about the development of the discourse in time and space. Result. It is shown that despite the declared depoliticization of the format, “ND” remains highly dependent on the level and nature of relations between Russia and the EU. Due to the gradually freezing cooperation, understanding of the goals and objectives of the program, as well as the form of spatial representation of the format and the level of involvement in the discourse of individual territories within Russia and abroad, dramatically changed. At the first stage, the “ND” is perceived as “an alternative channel of communication” with the EU. Border regions and a few neighboring countries are represented as “guides for Russia” on the way to Europe. At the second stage, the program is considered as one of the projects of cross-border cooperation, and neighboring countries (except Finland) are perceived as an obstacle to the dialogue with the EU. It is shown that the crisis of the “ND” has a discursive nature, However, the program itself may become one of the pillars for restoring Russia’s political relations with the European Union in the medium term. Research implications. The research results can be used in the higher education system to train geographers and specialists in the field of international relations.

Keywords

• EU-Russia relations
• northern dimension
• European neighborhood policy
• transborder cooperation
• four common spaces