Soft Hegemony in the Shared Neighbourhood: How the European Union and Russia Co-opted Moldovan and Armenian Societies between 2000 and 2021

This article analyses how the European Union and Russia influenced domestic ideas in neighbouring countries by comparing EU and Russian cultural diplomacy in Moldova and Armenia from Vladimir Putin’s first presidency, starting in 2000, up to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It shows that both actors used the same mechanism albeit in different ways: the European Union promoted a shared culture and belief system grounded in diversity and liberal values; Russia advanced its understanding of cultural unity, traditional values and shared language as well as its practices of Othering. These activities were perceived differently in the two countries, showing that more attention needs to be paid to local and national contexts as well as existing ideologies.