Commentary: Is Russia really European anymore?

MELBOURNE: The Russian government issued a strategic planning document on foreign policy in March 2023, a year after troops rolled across the Ukraine border for a full-scale invasion. The planning document reconceptualised Russia not as a European nation but as “a vast Eurasian and Euro-Pacific power”.
Some of this was posturing, Russian nationalism unleashed. But it also reflects geopolitical reality.
Russia cannot see itself as a part of Europe anymore. Cut off from the West, not only economically and politically, but also culturally, Russia has had to go in search of friends elsewhere. Russia must acknowledge its geographical place in Asia.
Such sentiment has been growing in Russia for many years, since at least the fall of the Soviet Union. In 2021, a poll showed that 64 per cent of Russian did not think of themselves as a European country, compared to only 29 per cent who did.
The invasion of Ukraine has accelerated support for this trend. The Europe Square in Moscow has removed flags of European countries and changed its name to Eurasia Square.
China has sought to fill the cultural hole in Russia from the break with Europe. State media has been championing Chinese-Russian cultural ties.
There is a growing appreciation in China of Russian culture that appears both grassroots- and government-supported. On Chinese social media such as Douyin and Little Red Book, clips celebrating Russian culture have gone viral – specifically, the stereotype of the tough Russian bear.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been taking advantage of China’s growing Russophilia. During a visit to China in May, Putin and Xi Jinping announced that 2024 and 2025 will be China-Russia Years of Culture. This would include 230 cultural events held in 51 Chinese cities and 38 in Russia.
Putin took great joy in presenting himself on the trip as a wise tough grandpa. In a Q&A session with Chinese students at the Harbin Institute of Technology, alongside answering standard questions about deepening Sino-Russian ties in technology and education, he cheerfully gave out life advice about the importance of keeping physically fit and having a morning routine.
In that same session, Putin quipped that being in China was like being home in Russia and that he occasionally forgets to wait for the translator. Clips of these speeches have spread widely on Chinese social media, as well as others showing softer playful side to Putin, giving a warm fatherly vibe that is the opposite of his reputation in the West.
Less clear is how willing Russians are to embrace cultural ties with China. Russian social media is not a closed box like China’s is, and nor does it have the same level of state control (although that level of control is quickly rising). Russians also still use Western social media such as Instagram at a high rate.
But within Russian social media such as VK and Telegram, there is no evident fandom for Xi in the same way that there is for Putin on Chinese platforms.
Xi’s online reputation is a little more dignified on Russian social media than it is in the West – way less Winnie-the-Pooh references – but it is still rather lacklustre. When searching Xi Jinping on VK, one of the first groups that come up is titled “Is Xi Jinping dead yet.”
This may be explained in part due to Putin’s long-standing effort to craft a cult of personality in support of his rule, while in comparison Xi has made efforts to keep his real personality as low key as possible, to better personify himself as the will of the Party. That doesn’t make for simple memes.
As for China as a whole, while again its image in Russia is more positive than it is in Western social media, it is still treated as the other. Even when championing the relationship, the far-right Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin states that China and Russia are two distinctly different cultures, and he is not alone in his feeling.
Russia’s awkward embrace of its Asian roots has been an issue dating back to the time of the tsars. It is a psychologically difficult transition. The war with Ukraine may finally drive a cultural change. China seems ready – but only if you believe what’s said.
Evan Freidin is an international relations analyst. This commentary first appeared on Lowy Institute’s blog, The Interpreter.