Нормативното влияние на ЕС върху конструирането на литовската интернационална идентичност
Normative Impact of the EU on the Construction of Lithuania’s International Identity

Summary/Abstract: The paper attempts to look at foreign and security policy of Lithuania as a main tool of state identity construction. The analysis is based on social constructivism methodology, underlying the predominant role of immaterial factors in the development of international system. The main objective of this paper is to show the ideational impact of the EU on Lithuania’s foreign security policy by analyzing identity/ security nexus and discovering how the dominant international identity construction of the EU influences the construction of Lithuania’s international identity. The paper comparing the narrative of „Normative Power Europe“ to that of „Lithuania, the regional center“reveals the specific features of the international identity of the EU and Lithuania. The paper states that Lithuania, trying to become the center of regional cooperation, is constructing normative state identity assembling other states by force of the example to be followed. Lithuania’s self-identification as a „regional center“ is a national interpretation of the narrative of „Europe as a normative power“ and this is the way the construct of normative power is transformed in Lithuania’s political discourse. However, the regional identity of Lithuania is still under formation: pretensions to unite the North, South and East are conceptually not grounded enough and the narrative uniting the region is still at an embryonic stage.

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