ABSTRACT
The issue of how to move forward with EU-Russia relations has vexed many in the academic and policy-making community over the years. Indeed, whilst the broad concept of ‘strategic partnership’, underpinned by the rationale of a ‘modernization partnership’, has now been agreed as a way forward, the road map for achieving such a partnership across many policy themes remains unclear, as does what such a partnership will actually look like in its finalité. The historical and contemporary context of the EU-Russian relationship is, thus, a complex one. This complexity embodies many dimensions and cuts across multiple themes, of which this chapter will attempt to unravel the bilateral aspect in relation to two member states of the EU, Greece and Cyprus, with the aim of ascertaining the extent to which each influences the evolution of a common EU position on policies relating to Russia.
