Eastern European attitudes to integration with Western Europe

Article abstract:

This article examines attitudes to membership of the EU and NATO amongst countries in central and eastern Europe. Sample survey data are obtained from the Eurobarometer surveys of transition and EU candidate countries. The empirical results suggest that support for membership increases with socio-economic variables such as income and education, reflecting self-interest. But attitudinal variables are also important and, in particular, confidence in the free market economy impacts positively on support for membership. Support for EU membership is not a mirror image of that for NATO, with the differences appearing to revolve around self-interest.