Between Russia and Europe: the role of national identities in international relations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

ENThirty years after the restauration of their independence, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are now members of the European Union and demonstrate litle affnity with Russia, heir to the USSR. What is the role identity discourses in their foreign policy choices? We argue that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania define their national identities – and therefore the thrust of their foreign policies – according to a logic of triangular atraction and repulsion towards Russia and Europe. Based on the Self/Other dichotomy, this article identifes how meanings associated with Baltic national identities were incorporated into their foreign policies after the fall of URSS. More specifcally, the article examines the discourses of Russifcation and/or Sovietisation and Europeanisation, how these discourses differ from one another, and how the Baltic states respond to those infuences in constructing their foreign policies. Keywords: Baltic States; Russia; Europe; identities; foreign policy.

• From existential politics towards normal politics? The Baltic States in the enlarged Europe. Security Dialogue. 2006, vol. 37, iss. 3, p. 275-297.
• The Baltic revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the path to independence. New Haven ; Yale University Press, 1993. XXV, 454 p.
• The Baltic States from the Soviet Union to the European Union: identity, discourse and power in the post-communist transition of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. London ; Routledge, 2012. xviii, 196 p.