This paper tackles a previously understudied topic—the ebb and flow of ideas towards the EU as a ‘Normative Power’ found in an external society. It asks three questions. How can particular visions about a foreign policy actor – the EU in our case – be activated and disseminated in societies beyond the Union’s borders, and its neighbourhood in particular? Who are the key local actors who facilitate the spreading of these ideas? And how might the personal views towards the EU and its ‘NPE’ identity of these key actors influence the activation of ‘NPE’ ideas in a given society in the context of ‘Eurointegration’ narratives? In answering these questions, this paper brings together two theoretical models– the NPE analytical approach (Manners 2002) and the ‘cascade activation framing theory’ (Entman 2003, 2004). Empirically, this paper employs data from the content analysis of Ukrainian press and face-to-face semi-structured interviews on the perceptions of the EU as a normative power with the leading Ukrainian newsmakers from influential national media – news writers (journalists, columnists, reporters) and media gatekeepers (editors, news directors, publishers and news producers).
