The REDEMOS Working Paper D7.2 “Narratives of External Norm Contenders across the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood” has been included in the European Council’s Think Tank Review of December 2024. This recognition highlights the paper’s contribution to understanding the influence of third-country actors on democracy narratives in the region.
Authored by Kristi Raik, Igor Gretskiy, and Tetiana Fedosyuk of the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), the paper examines the narratives of contested democracy by third-country actors — notably Russia and China — in the European Union’s (EU) eastern neighbourhood. Understanding these anti-democracy narratives is essential in the broader geopolitical context of the EU’s democracy support efforts in the region.
In this paper, narratives are understood as sets of meanings that organise events and experiences and make sense of them. The paper draws on six case studies conducted by researchers in each country, and these case studies include qualitative content analysis of some of the most popular digital media outlets in each country, as well as expert interviews. The timeframe focuses on the pivotal years of 2013-14 and 2021-22.
