European Forms of Belonging

Abstract

The article questions collective identities of “imagined communities” involved in the process of European Union (EU) enlargement. Focusing on issues of citizenship, unity and diversity, nationalism, and patriotism, the author explores the process of EU enlargement from the viewpoint of the “other Europe” in general and Slovenia in particular. It presents the dilemmas of “new democracies” of Central and Eastern Europe and their reluctance to hand over their only recently won national sovereignty to a transnational entity of the EU. The author approaches the question of exclusivism and inclusivism through the scope of modern citizenship and the need of multiple identities that provide not only tolerance but also understanding and possible respect for the Other. On the other hand, it presents the strategies of both sides, the nationalism of candidate states, and the gethoisation (Schengen) of member states as they outline the possibility of a dim scenario of enlarged but internally divided Europe.