Europe by experience: How EU soft power reaches Russia’s North Caucasus beyond formal policy

The EU’s influence extends beyond its formal neighbourhood policy through everyday encounters, diaspora networks and procedural experiences. Drawing on 30 interviews conducted in Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia and among North Caucasian diasporas in the EU (2023–4), this article examines how European values travel to Russia’s North Caucasus through non-institutional channels. The research reveals that EU soft power operates most effectively through ‘procedural Europe’: the predictability of bureaucracy, the fairness of legal systems and the transparency of governance experienced through mundane interactions. These findings challenge conventional assessments that measure influence solely through formal programmes. The article argues for recognising procedural coherence as a distinct soft-power asset and supporting informal channels of value transmission. For EU policymakers, this means investing in administrative harmonisation across member states and strategically engaging diaspora networks rather than attempting to establish a direct institutional presence in geopolitically constrained regions.