A Wider Europe? The View from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine

On the evidence of national surveys conducted between 2000 and 2006, there is a declining sense of European self‐identity in the three Slavic post‐Soviet republics of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Attitudes towards the European Union and the possibility of membership are broadly supportive, but with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of common market studies 2008-03, Vol.46 (2), p.219-241
Main Authors: WHITE, STEPHEN, KOROSTELEVA, JULIA, MCALLISTER, IAN
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alliances
Attitude formation
Attitudes
Belarus
Eastern Europe
EU membership
European integration
European Union
Identity
International relations
Membership
Postcommunist Societies
Public opinion
Regionalism
Russia
Russian Federation
Single European market
Studies
Survey data
Transition economies
Ukraine
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Summary:On the evidence of national surveys conducted between 2000 and 2006, there is a declining sense of European self‐identity in the three Slavic post‐Soviet republics of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Attitudes towards the European Union and the possibility of membership are broadly supportive, but with a substantial proportion who find it difficult to express a view, and substantial proportions are poorly informed in comparison with the general public in EU member or prospective member countries. Those who are better informed are more likely to favour EU membership and vice versa. Generally, socioeconomic characteristics (except for age and region) are relatively poor predictors of support for EU membership as compared with attitudinal variables. But ‘Europeanness’ should not be seen as a given, and much will depend on whether EU member countries emphasize what is common to east and west or establish ‘new dividing lines’ in place of those of the cold war.
ISSN:0021-9886
1468-5965
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-5965.2007.00775.x