LAUSR

To many citizens in post-communist states European Union (EU) membership represented a historical–civilisational choice: an end to the Cold War division of Europe and symbolic reuniting of Eastern Europe with a ‘West’ that they had always considered themselves to be part of culturally and spiritually. In fact, in spite of its multiple crises, there continued to be high levels of support for EU membership and ‘Hard’ rejectionist Eurosceptic discourses were confined to the margins of politics. However, the increasing sense of East European cultural distinctiveness, highlighted by the post-communist states’ responses to the European migration crisis, meant that pro-EU discourses were less romantic and more instrumental, driven increasingly by a cost–benefit analysis based on an evaluation of the tangible material benefits that the Union was felt to deliver.