Hi all!
UPD: thank you all for insightful answers. I am even more confused, but I find fascinating how fluctuating and alive the concept of Europe seems to be, reflecting the relationships between countries, geography, cultural context and even languages. Seems to be a valid PhD topic! Cheers!
I have an ultimately silly question for the thread, but I think it might be the best place to ask about it. I come from Russia and lived in Europe for around 6-7 years. And last weekend I realized I don’t know what do Europeans normally mean when mentioning Europe. Is it EEA? EU?
I’ve mentioned in a random convo that sometime in 2000s Moscow was one of the most expensive cities in Europe, and I was told off that I should not ever say it like that.
I was taught at school back in Russia that Europe is a continent, and the division lies between tectonic plates or something. That means, that there’s a European and Asian parts of Russia, like there are 2 sides of Istanbul sitting on two continents.
I understand, in Europe the most common understanding in Europe is not geographical, but, perhaps, political?
Is Belarus Europe? (I would say yes?) Then what about transcontinental countries? Like, Georgia is Europe and Azerbaijan is not? What about Armenia? (I’ve heard both interpretations).
Right now, my gut feeling is that all transcontinental countries kinda chose their sides? (Like, Georgia chooses European integration and Azerbaijan doesn’t). Could it be most common religion? (Doesn’t quite work tho?)
I’m only asking to clear my confusion, not to bait. I’m not suggesting anything. There’s a difference in education, and knowing how biased post-soviet education, I think I need to understand the conversation better.
Upd: typo on the subject linem
Thank you for the detailed answer! Seems it’s mainly about political alliances. Unrelated, when I lived in America, people did consider Russia to be Eastern European, and e.g. St Petersburg a European city, but I think in the USA people often generalize locations.
It’s a bit sad to hear about Belarus and Ukraine tho… From my more Eastern standpoint, they are relatively more European, and Belarus seems to me culturally closer to Poland than Russia.
But I understand how some countries on the same continent exist outside of EU/EEA/Balkan discourse. I hope Ukraine will be able to gain their place in the EU.
My answer was about the colloquial use of the term. When you discuss “Europe” you do it usually trough a political lens, not a geographical one.
I personally think that Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are culturally European countries. The common path in history is hard to ignore. The alignment in music, literature and philosophy is undeniable.
But there is a political rift, and that is greater for Belarus and Russia as they are dictatorships in a continent full of democratic entities and institutions. Belarus is for all intents and purposes a puppet state to Russia.
I am just stating the fact that most of the time someone talk about European challenges, opportunities, positions, they are not including Russia and Belarus.
Ukraine recent alignment with European geopolitical interests is born out of necessity and opposition to Russia, not because of a cultural shift. That is the reason I say it is a gray area.
The problem with EU is the fragile veto system while the nation inside the EU are still very different from each other’s. Ukraine has demonstrated resilience, capacity to adapt, ingenuity and commitment to improve. For me that alone puts them well above other current members of the EU. Ukraine is a big country, with enormous potential. I think lot of politicians in the EU are just worried about the consequences of joining the EU as it will have a huge impact on the continent.