You conflate European politicians with Europeans.

Since WWII and the continuous and expanding occupation of Europe by the US military, being a career politician in Europe has meant hating Russia.

Meanwhile since the fall of the USSR, the EU public actually believed the cold war was over, because there was no ideological enemy (the USSR), just another capitalist European country (Russia) with whom to do business.

It is not just a "by the way" the entire premise of the EU was to make countries interdependent business-wise so that they wouldn't go to war every 25 years or so. That plan was working fine with Russia and the EU.

The US didn't like that (and said so openly and strongly since about 2008) the EU was happy getting cheap oil and gas from Russia. The EU plan was working too well. The US was not getting a cut of that deal, because the US plan to balkanize Russia failed when Putin came to power and put a stop to the decimation of his country. I don't have to like Putin to recognize why Russians love him.

The war in Ukraine has brought the conflict between what is good for the EU and what is good for the USA to a head. Pro-war EU politicians are getting ever more short-lived in tenure and/or power. Even the powerhouses of Germany, France and the UK are not immune.

TL;DR: The European public doesn't need or want Russia as a boogyman, just the majority of National Politicians. The war in Ukraine is spreading that fault line. The earthquakes have already begun (Hungary, Slovakia, Rumania).