East Central European Solidarity and Responsibility Towards the Post-Communist Neighbourhood

Abstract

As we have seen above, the political consensus on foreign policy lasted as long as the ECE countries were in the process of restructuring: until 2004 or 2007, their main goals had been EU and NATO accessions. Once these accessions were achieved, a differentiation among their political parties took place and their foreign policy priorities were reformulated. In all the ECE countries, the post-communist regions of Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans have suddenly become a subject of interest. How does the definition of these new priorities relate to the foreign policy identity of the ECE countries? Is the post-communist space defined as a part of the self or is it still a distanced other to which solidarity or hostility is expressed?