Abstract
The article identifies the key institutional and semantic components of the European approach to the formation and regulation of historical memory. European historical memory is analyzed in the aggregate of national and European governance. It is shown that at the present stage, this semantic complex is instrumentalized in order to redistribute powers between the levels of EU governance and contributes to its centralization. The article considers historical paradigm of the EU as a component of European geopolitical project. It establishes the distorting potential of the European memory policy in relation to target countries, including the Russian Federation, and discovers specific mechanisms of instrumentalization of historical memory involved by the EU. The militant nature of this strategy, which requires a systemic response, is shown.