The past as resource – memory and emotions in Russia’s war on Ukraine

Historical memory and its emotional baggage is used increasingly
by political actors to push forward specific domestic interests and
to revive old schismatic relationships between European states. The
proposed paper aims to analyse this development by asking the
following questions: Under which conditions does the memory of
the past get mobilized and how does it acquire salience in EU
policy-making? How do interpretations of the past and the deploy-
ment of emotions influence political decision-making in the pre-
sent? Using Russia’s war on Ukraine as a case study, the paper
analyses two moments in time: the invasion of Crimea in 2014
and the outbreak of war in 2022. By examining the framing devices
and analogies used in political speeches, resolutions and press
releases by the EP, it analyses where, how by whom and to which
effect historical analogies are being taken up as tools of interpreta-
tion. The aim is to study the cultural heritage of war and conflict as
related to political mobilization of contested memory in the
present.