East European neighbors (EEN), specifically Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, have declared European integration a national strategic objective. Yet, beyond the common goal of joining the European Union, these neighboring countries have perceived differently what is European integration and their ‘Europeaness.’ As a result, the pursuit of European integration has had a different influence on political actors and processes from the three EEN. This paper aims at exploring the variables that define the distinct influence of European integration process on the EEN political processes. It focuses on party perceptions of the European integration perspective and builds on primary data from party leaders’ interviews from 2007. This year represents a turning point in the EEN democratic developments, as the EEN countries started backsliding on their democratic reforms and loosing the gains of electoral revolutions from the region. Thus, a better understanding of the contextual factors defining the perception of the European integration further allows answering core questions about the uncertainty or even rejection of the EU offers of deeper integration within the EEN (e.g. Ukraine in 2013). The methodological approach relies on constructivist and rational choice arguments. The paper reveals four major dimensions that define the European discourse within the EEN: historico-cultural and liberal-democratic (ideational perception), and economic and security (rationalist perception). The economic dimension emerges as the most salient in defining the European discourse in the EEN and shapes the domestic political competition.
