The security dimension of the discourse of the European’s identity of Ukraine

Abstract

The author analyzes the formation and structure of the discourse of the European identity of Ukraine in the security dimension. The use of the methodological principles of constructivism and critical security studies allowed us to justify that the intensity and spread of the discourse of the European identity in the political space of Ukraine is more dependent on external stimuli from the EU than on internal impulses given to the Ukrainian society by the national political elite. The period between 2014–2017 was the most significant for strengthening of the system of generally accepted European values in Ukraine, which led to the formation of a common understanding of the essence, tasks and functions of security among European countries. The discourse of the European identity, characteristic of the political elite of Ukraine, was focused on the formation of a high level of the dynamic density of interaction between Ukraine and the European Union and had a systemic character; it reflected the chances and tendencies of institutional renewal of political power. However, during this period the Ukrainian elite reduced its efforts focused on transnational convergence of norms and values of Ukrainian citizens and citizens of EU member states, which found its reflection in the European identities of Ukrainians. The EU’s strategic cooperation procedures are not fully implemented in Ukraine’s internal political processes and the system of government which affects the deliberate increase in the distance between the I (EU) and the Other (Ukraine) during the “planning of the Other”.