RUSSIA AND EUROPEAN UNION: DIFFICULT SEARCHING FOR COMMON VALUES

This contribution sheds light on the dialogue between the EU (member States) and the Russian Federation and examines whether the EU and Russia truly have common (legal / rule of law) values. After analyzing the current state of the EU-Russia dialogue, cooperation in the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the position of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) it is argued, that this common values discourse is largely a fiction, and that its viability hinges on whether or not Russia defines itself as European.