The Evolution of the Image of Russia in the Italian Formal Political Discourse in the Context of the Relations between Russia and the EU (2008 - 2019)

The dialogue between the European Union and the Russian Federation has been strained since 2014. That has a profound effect on bilateral relations of Russia with member states of the European Union, namely Italy. Recently the changes occurred in the domestic policy of Italy influences its foreign policy. The growth of interest to the role of image in politics incites research of the political image of the countries and its influence on the policymaking. However, scientific community still lacks profound and comprehensive study, examining the image of Russia not in the EU but in its member states. This paper aims to address this gap and evaluate the image of Russia in Italian political discourse. Given the purpose of the study, content analysis is chosen to obtain the results. The findings will contribute to the study of Russia-Italy relations, which might be a base for the further development of relations between Russia and the EU.