Mirrors on the Wall. Outsiders Looking at Europe, and at Themselves

Last year Anatolij Morozov and Lilija Siričenko published a study on the Common Agricultural Policy of the countries of the European Union at the University of Čerkasi (Ukraine). This study served as the starting point for the author’s reflections, as it offers a much-needed sounding board helpful for both insiders and outsiders of the EU, for it echoes the tensions between high European hopes and increasing counterclaims in the wider Southeast European region originating from a Russian or Turkish sphere of political and economic influence. The study, and the author of this commentary, invite Europeans to count their blessings and, at the same time, warn those striving for admittance to the EU to perform a ‘reality check’ on their readiness for European integration.