THE “NEW EASTERN EUROPE” IN THE SOCIO-POLITICAL DISCOURSE OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY (2004–2017)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of the socio-political discourse of the Federal Republic of Germany concerning the countries of the “New Eastern Europe”, which turned out to be beyond the borders of the enlarged European Union in 2004–2017. The term “New Eastern Europe” is used in relation to the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine taking into account the differentiation between the political and geographical understanding of the concept of the “Eastern Partnership”.

Taking into account the level of internal democratic transformations and the level of rapprochement to the European Union, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova are at different stages. Russian hybrid aggression has negative affect on the process of European integration of Ukraine. Territorial problems with Transnistria will also prevent Moldova from the full membership in the European Union in the near future. Instead, Belarus managed to improve political relations with the European Union, and offer Minsk as a place for diplomatic efforts to resolve the Donbas conflict.

The conclusions indicate that the events of 2013–2017 have shown the fallacy of the inertial foreign policy strategy of the Federal Republic of Germany in the East European direction, and also demonstrated a lack of fundamental knowledge about the East European region in Germany. No single federal government has been able to develop a clear program of interaction with the Eastern European powers. The European Neighbourhood Policy, and soon the EU’s Eastern Partnership program, supported by the Federal Republic of Germany, included an in-depth dialogue between EU institutions and the countries of the “New Eastern Europe” without guarantees of their membership in the community. This aspect has complicated the adaptation of the “Eastern Partnership” to the current situation created by the Russian hybrid aggression against Ukraine.

Kharlan, H. (2018). The “New Eastern Europe” in the Socio-Political Discourse of the Federal Republic of Germany (2004–2017). Mìžnarodnì zv’âzki Ukraïni: naukovì pošuki ì znahìdki – The International relations of Ukraine: scientific searches and findings, 27, 295-313 [in Ukrainian].