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 deployment of emotions influence political decision-making in the present? 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 interpretation. The aim is to study the cultural heritage of war and conflict as related to political mobilization of contested memory in the present.