DET RYSKA GRUPPHOTET MOT EU-IDENTITETEN En Analys av Realistiskt och Symboliskt grupphot i Central- och Östeuropa efter Rysslands Invasion av Ukraina

Abstract

In 2022, Russia completed its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU responded with powerful restrictive measures against Russia to demonstrate its unified support for Ukraine, indicating that the perception of Russia as an external threat to the EU, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), has become increasingly evident following the invasion. Drawing on theory and previous research suggesting that external threats strengthen group identities, I argue that Russia is perceived as an external threat to EU identity in CEE after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Stephan and Stephan's integrated threat theory considers an external threat as either realistic, posing a threat to the ingroup's existence, or symbolic, posing a threat to the ingroup's worldview. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between EU identity and the perception of Russia as a group threat to the EU among individuals in CEE based on the nature of the group threat: realistic and symbolic. The results of the linear multiple regression analysis show positive significant associations between EU identity and the perception of Russia as a group threat to the EU among individuals in CEE. The results demonstrate stronger associations between EU identity and the perception of Russia as a symbolic threat to the EU in comparison with the realistic threat. In the concluding remarks, conclusions from the study are presented and suggestions for future research are discussed.