West and East in ‘New Europe’: The Pitfalls of Paternalism and a Claimant Attitude

The author discusses dangers which stem from the old West-East divide of Europe. On the one hand, there may be a deterministic interpretation of Central and Eastern Europe as political, economic and cultural periphery, which leads to paternalistic attitudes and belief in one-way transfers of knowledge and decisions. This may legitimize unequal treatment and exclusionary political action on the part of Western Europe. On the other hand, the people of Central and Eastern Europe may tend to adopt what can be termed a ‘claimant’ attitude towards the West. The ideology of ‘catching-up’ and a sense of having being wronged in the past reinforce acceptance of the role of recipients of external influences and of wealth generated in the West, as well as the image of the European Union as a bureaucratic institution, to which claims are directed. This may entail passive behaviour on the part of Central and Eastern European societies and lack of solidarity with ‘the outsiders’ remaining outside the new EU boundaries. Together these can lead us to discard the idea of European solidarity, coherence and trust. Instead, there is a need to recognize the capacity for action and foster social mobilization in Central and Eastern Europe, so that its peoples can contribute their values and activities to Europe as a whole.