Europeanization and De-Europeanization in the Eastern Partnership Countries

Abstract

Europeanization and De-Europeanization in the Eastern Partnership Countries examines how states on the EU eastern borders navigate the promises and limits of integration. Challenging linear accounts of Europeanization, it introduces de-Europeanization to show how alignment with EU norms can stall, shift, or reverse. Through comparative analyses of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, the volume highlights how domestic politics, identity, security pressures, and economic interests shape divergent trajectories. Against Russia’s war in Ukraine and renewed enlargement debates, it assesses EU initiatives including European Neighborhood Policy and Eastern Partnership. The book shows European influence is actively negotiated rather than simply adopted.