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Преступник, больной, колонизатор, вассал… Метафоры как обоснование новой политики России в отношении Евросоюза
Russia’s official representation of the EU became highly metaphorical as of 2022. The goal of this article is to demonstrate how metaphors explained fundamental changes in Moscow’s political course towards the EU. Theoretically the research is based on the critical metaphor analysis of J. Charteris-Black. Empirics consists of messages in the official telegram channel of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the EU from March 2022 through June 2025. The article identifies metaphorical phrases and groups them into 11 major conceptual metaphors. They vary from a ‘colonizer’ and ‘vassal’ to ‘(mentally) sick’, from an actor who ‘forgot the lessons of the Second World War’ and ‘integration ideals’ to ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘illegal activity’. This is the basis for identifying four conceptual keys in Russia’s official representation of the EU: the latter comes out as having lost its moral authority, not deserving trust, dangerous and pitiful. Reasons for persuasiveness of these metaphors are identified. From the conceptual point of view, Russia’s representation of the EU leads to its ‘symbolic annihilation’. In policy practice Brussels is blamed for today’s, deplorable state of the relationship. 2023-2024 marked the peak in the metaphorical intensity; it signals the time of Russia’s active legitimation of its new policy towards the EU. This policy consists of four components: ignoring the EU, resisting its aggressive steps, decentering away from Europe (Euro-Atlantic Area) to Eurasia, and openness to contacts with the EU in the future when conditions for these contacts emerge (that is primarily a transformation of the EU’s policy on Russia). Russia’s metaphorical justification of its new policy on the EU is addressed to both Russian audience and international actors. While there is clear consolidation of the state and society in Russia around the new policy towards the EU, international results of Russia’s EU representation require further research.