Communication strategies in support of the idea of european integration: the experience of Eastern European countries.

Abstract

To support the European integration process the candidate countries for accession to the European Union developed communication strategies and carried out large-scale nationwide communication campaigns, directed at the public and its interests. Since the decisions on accession to the EU were taken at national referenda, there was an urgent need to inform and convince people of the benefits and inevitability of European integration. In the context of Ukraine’s European integration aspirations the experience of the states of the former Soviet camp, including Eastern European countries (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland), seems to be very interesting. The said states sought to demonstrate their departure from dependence on the East (the former USSR and Russia) and the orientation to the West (the EU). The article suggests the positive practices that could be used for the communication campaign in Ukraine, which would be focused on communication with citizens on European integration.