Political Identities of Ukrainian Society in the Context of the EU Eastern Partnership Policy

Abstract

The dynamics of European integration in Ukraine, defined by the Eastern Partnership Programme over the last decade, has attained many undeniable successes. Still, the current geopolitical situation leaves room for risks for both Ukraine and the entire community of European states. Faced with Russia’s armed aggression, Ukraine is especially intent upon tackling the barriers of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, which for years have been inherent in its foreign policy, and its choice of European identity. That having been said, the issue of political identity remains as urgent as ever, since taking account of the identifying features, and the study of the evolution and trends of the political identity of Ukrainian society paves the way for Ukraine’s integration into the European political system.
 Now, the identity of Ukrainians, which is still at the formative stage, can be described as partially ambivalent. In the meanwhile, a tendency towards acquiring the European system of values, in contrast to the Russian and Soviet ones, is being observed as well.
 Among the prevalent political identities that have emerged in Ukrainian societies under various historical, geopolitical, and cultural circumstances, two incompatibles yet competing groups—Western, represented by Ukrainian and European identities, and Eastern, represented by Russian and Soviet identities—can be discerned. In this regard, identities are not interpreted in terms of ethnicity but as politically constructible.
 The article analyses Ukraine’s European integration successes over the last years, which not only contributes to the upstream dynamics of European and Ukrainian identities but also prevents competitive identities from going forward. Today, the European foreign policy course indisputably unites the Ukrainian nation, having a positive impact on its cooperation with the European Union in terms of politics, economy, and culture.