CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE IN CANADIAN FOREIGN POLICY

Abstract

This article examines the place of Central and Eastern Europe among Canadian foreign policy priorities. Canada’s active involvement in international events started in the 20th century and evolved from the monocentric orientation on Great Britain/the United States towards multilateralism and active participation in international organisations and institutions. During the Cold War, the main vector of Canadian policy towards the region was to prevent the spread of communism and to weaken the ties of these countries with the Soviet bloc. At that time, policy towards Central and Eastern Europe was a part of Canadian policy towards the Soviet Union. After the revolutionary events of 1989-1991, Canadian policy transformed into technical and financial support of the transformation towards democratic changes in the region and evolved into the framework of Canadian policy towards Europe. Since 2014, the mainstream of Canadian policy in the region was completed by security issues caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine. The events of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, which began on 24 February 2022, are not covered in this article, as they require a separate study. .Despite the fact that Central and Eastern Europe has never been a priority for Canada, active involvement in the region since 1989 has helped Canada to assert itself as a notable international actor. Canada’s current policy and bilateral relations with the nations of Central and Eastern Europe are based on common values and approaches to such issues as support for human rights and democracy, territorial integrity, and the rule of international law. Canada is a donor country for a great variety of projects and programmes that have been and are being implemented in this part of Europe. The policy towards the region allows Canada to deal with new partners abroad, and to take an active part in international organisations and processes. At the beginning of the 21st century, Canada as a middle power tried to use different methods and mechanisms to protect its own national interests in the international arena, and Canada’s involvement in the democratic transformation of Central and Eastern Europe made it possible to consider Canada as an important and influential international player.

Keywords

• Canada
• Central and Eastern Europe
• Canadian foreign policy