Framing of European integration in Ukrainian media discourse

Abstract

The topic of European integration is one of the most important for Ukrainian political discourse and reflects the main controversy in politics and society. This paper is based on a case study: how are European integration and widely the idea of Europe conceptualized in Ukrainian political discourses and how are they presented and framed in the Ukrainian press in the period 2005–2010? What are the dominant frames in the representation of European integration in the Ukrainian press? This study demonstrates that conceptualization of European integration and, connected with it, the foreign policy choice of Ukraine is proceeding in the Ukrainian media discourse with usage of the following dominant frames: geopolitical confrontation, civilizational choice and an instrument of inner changes.