The paper focuses on narratives of contested democracy by third-country actors — notably Russia and China — in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood. It identifies four dominant narratives across the region that originate from Russia — ‘decadent and declining West’, ‘historical unity with Russia’, ‘Russia provides security, the West stokes conflict’, and ‘Western-imposed democracy’ — and one broad narrative promoted by China, summed up as ‘China as a positive alternative’. It explores similarities and differences between the six country cases as well as between the narratives advanced by Russia and China. Finally, the paper also seeks to assess the receptiveness of local audiences to the narratives promoted by the two authoritarian powers and their relevance from the viewpoint of democratisation and EU democracy support.
The Russian narratives pose a serious challenge to the EU’s efforts to promote democracy in the eastern neighbourhood countries by directly and indirectly contesting Western or European values and influence. However, the receptiveness of local audiences varies greatly, ranging from active efforts to counter the Russian narratives in Ukraine to active reproduction of the Kremlin’s messages in the Belarusian public discourse. The Chinese narratives do not have a significant presence in most eastern neighbourhood countries, but they do bring into question the Western model in a more subtle way. It is important for the EU, in cooperation with local partners, to further develop ways to respond to disinformation that undermines democratic values and practices. In addition to identifying the narratives promoted by Russia and China and putting into question possible false claims therein, it is necessary to strengthen the narratives of the EU and local democratic actors that highlight the benefits of democratisation and European integration for the local population.
Download and read: Narratives of external norm contenders across the EU’s eastern neighbourhood (PDF)
The paper was written in the framework of the Horizon Europe project REDEMOS – TOWARDS A SUSTAINED DEMOS IN THE EU’S EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOOD