Suchergebnisse

Introduction: constitutions and statehood -- In search of a tradition: discontinuities of statehood in Ukraine's history -- Independence without a vision: constitution making in 1990-1991 -- Simulating reforms amidst constitutional disarray: Ukraine under Kravchuk's presidency -- How to organise the state?: constitutional debates after the 1994 elections -- The passage of the constitution: process, actors, and strategies

This article applies the concept of the boundary of order to examine the multi-faceted and complex relations between the EU and Ukraine. The focus is on geopolitical, institutional/legal and cultural boundaries in order to conceptualize the EU's reluctant engagement with Ukraine. Yet, notwithstanding the EU's refusal to offer Ukraine membership, it softened the legal boundary to placate Ukraine's demand for inclusion. Furthermore, the cultural boundary has become blurred through references to Europe as a discursive benchmark of 'normality' in Ukraine, and Ukraine's Europeanness as evidenced in its support for so-called European values. Overall, it is argued that different boundaries are subject to conflicting dynamics and that Russia has, inadvertently, contributed to a diminution of the boundaries between the EU and Ukraine.