EU-Russia Relations and the Repercussions on the “In-Betweens”

Abstract

After the end of the Cold War in 1989, the European Union (EU) was compelled to redefine its relationship with the countries of the former Eastern bloc. It was only in 1988 that the European Community (EC)¹ agreed upon granting financial assistance to support Poland and Hungary on their difficult paths toward market economies and democracy. Concomitantly, the EU was engaged in negotiations with the Soviet Union about a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which entered into force in April 1990. While at that time the EC considered a unified approach toward Eastern Europe, the dismantlement of the Soviet Union provided yet another incentive for the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to realign themselves with Western institutions. Hence, these states² of the former Soviet sphere of influence started demanding a membership perspective within both the EC/EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Cooperation with and integration into the EU and NATO subsequently became the central foreign policy objectives of most of the CEECs. As a consequence, the “integration divide” between the “West” and the “East” of Eastern Europe came into existence.