"We underestimated Russia politically and overestimated Russia economical-ly", stated Prof. Lien Verpoest, Director of the Centre for Russian Studies at the KU Leuven, during a workshop jointly organized by the European Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the KU Leuven. Under the heading “Cross-party cooperation within the EPP: The Russian Factor”, European policy makers and academic representatives came together at KADOC in Leuven in order to discuss the potential Russian influence on political agendas in the region.