Relations with Russia are a strategic priority for the European Union in terms of geopolitics, economics and energy supplies. To understand their evolution, it is important to see them first through the Post Cold War paradigm and then through the new paradigm built upon the ideological confrontation of the eu’s and Russia’s views of Europe. The Post Cold War paradigm came to an end with the conflict in Georgia when Russia showed its willingness to change the European regional order and thus made clear how much the views of the EU and Russia have come apart.