CAN the EU Cure Nostalgia for Communism? a Comparative Assessment of Attitudes in Eastern Europe

Nostalgia for communism appears to be a timely topic when studying the attitudes of citizens from the new democracies or democratizing countries from Eastern Europe. Earlier research revealed the existence of positive attitudes towards the previous regime among important segments in society. Most of the times such attitudes were associated with political (satisfaction with democracy, government performance, egalitarian policies), economic (losers of transition) or social factors. So far, little attention has been paid to the potential role of the European Union (EU) in shaping attitudes towards the past. This paper fills this empirical void and seeks to identify the way in which perceived benefits of transformations in six Member States (i.e. 2004 and 2007 joiners) have an effect on nostalgia. Following the positive influence in the process of democratization in Eastern Europe – extensively documented in the literature – this paper argues that citizens who feel closer to the EU are likely to project a negative light on the previous regime. This comparative analysis uses individual level data from Flash Eurobarometer 257 (2009) and combines bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses in the attempt to identify trends and explain processes.