The road to the European Union, Volume 2. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Book abstract:

The rolling back of the Iron Curtain in 1991 revealed a set of players eager to play their part in the theatre of European politics, but sadly lacking the necessary props and stage settings for the task. This work tells the story of how three small Baltic states equipped themselves for the part they were to play in the enlargement of the EU to embrace the former Soviet satellites of Central and Eastern Europe. If we continue the theatrical metaphor we shall see how the EU adopted the role of 'angel' to the production, and in some ways the EC became assistant stage manager providing guidance and assistance with setting up the necessary props and paraphernalia of aspirant European Union players.

The book includes chapters on relationships with Russia, their former rulers, the building of state administrations and appropriate constitutional models and the reorganisation of economic structures towards market oriented models of the west enabling development of foreign trade.

The work will interest students and scholars of Baltic studies, European Union studies and International Relations and offers valuable pointers to all those engaged in EU enlargement and post-communist transition.

Vello Pattai is Lecturer and Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Tartu.

Jan Zielonka is Professor of Political Science at the European University Institute in Florence.