Europeanization Tendencies of the Foreign and Security Policy of the Baltic States

Abstract

The article attempts to look at the foreign and security policy (FSP) of the Baltic States through the prism of the Europeanization concept. By associating Europeanization with loyalty to EU norms and construction of European identity, it analyzes the impact of the EU on the FSP of the Baltic States while seeking membership and after having become EU members. On the way to the EU, the Europeanization of the foreign and security policy of the Baltic States was essentially conducted in one direction – from top to bottom (from the center to national states). On the one hand, it was an instrumental rather than value-related rapprochement of the objectives between the FSP of the Baltic States and CFSP. On the other hand, during this period the national Europeanization projection also came to light – the requirements of the EU were used as a protective shield to justify unpopular decisions of both domestic and foreign policy. When the Baltic States became EU members, the instrumental interpretation of the EU remained, yet the efforts of the states to impact the common foreign and security policy of the EU by shifting national interests to the EU level strengthened. The foreign and security policy of the Baltic States, as in a distorting mirror, reflects the EU CFSP inconsistency related to the indetermination of the EU as a specific political object. In a sense, the foreign and security policy of the Baltic States is more consistent than that of the European Union. In the policy of EU neighborhood and Eastern partnership, they emphasize not the instrumental, but the normative aspect, urging that the values-related fundamentals of Europe be treated seriously.