European Right-wing Centrism Facing the Challenge of the Ukrainian Conflict: Beyond Fear

The article examines the reaction of the leadership of the leading socio-political association of the European Union – the European People's Party to the situation of a deep geopolitical crisis caused by a sharp aggravation of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation. The author focuses on the political attitudes of the European right-wing centrists and traces the dynamics of their development in the context of the growing alienation between Russia and Western countries. The Ukrainian conflict, perceived by party leaders as a challenge from Moscow and a threat to European security, encourages them to weaken the Russian state, including by military force. At the same time, the very situation of the conflict is interpreted by representatives of the European political mainstream within the framework of anti-Russian discourse, which makes us see in what is happening a clash of incompatible value systems. At the same time, despite the attitudes embedded in the mass consciousness of Europeans about the full compliance of the values ​​declared by Kiev with their own political and cultural patterns and standards, the public space of the European Union is not ready to recognize the integration association as a whole and its constituent countries as participants in the conflict.