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How have countries in the EU that were previously under Communist rule influenced the creation of a European policy towards other Post-Soviet nations? This study explores countries including the Czech Republic and Poland and shows how they have helped develop a coherent policy based reconciling political and historical foreign policy identities.

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1. Introduction: The ´return to Europe´ and the Rediscovery of the East PART I: THE ´RETURN TO EUROPE´ AND THE DEFINITION OF EAST CENTRAL EUROPEAN FOREIGN POLICY ROLES IN THE EASTERN NEIGHBOURHOO 2. The ´return to Europe´: Redefining ECE Political Identities After 1989 3. Defining the Historical Self 4. East Central European Solidarity and Responsibility Towards the Post-Communist Neighbourhood PART II: THE ´EUROPEANISATION´ OF FOREIGN POLICY BEHAVIOUR OR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SELF? 5. Participation in EU Policies as a Turn in ECE Foreign Policies 6. Foreign Policy Consistency Through the Presidencies of the Visegrád Group and of the EU Council 7. Between Solidarity, Responsibility and Interests: Assistance Policies and Economic Ties 8. Conclusion: The Dilemmas of Interpreting Foreign Policy Identity

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"This study highlights that the coherence of EU policy towards the East is mainly linked to its members´ capacity to reconcile their political and historical foreign policy identities. The book will be of particular interest to policy-makers, students and specialists of the EU and East Central Europe, as well as to the larger public interested in European integration." (Pol-Int.org, July, 2015)

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Elsa Tulmets is Marie Curie Research Fellow at the CERI/Sciences Po in Paris, France. She is also Associate Researcher at the Institute of International Relations (IIR) in Prague, Czech Republic, where she undertook the research for this book. She also contributes to the activities of the Franco-German Research Centre for the Social Sciences, the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin, Germany, and has alsopean foreign policy as a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

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