Abstract

The Iron Curtain stands for the division of Europe and is a symbol of the global political order of the twentieth century. Its fall is also a symbol of overcoming the division and the new European unity. Paradoxically, the Iron Curtain was also useful in the process of European integration and in construction of European communities. It served as a boundary which helped to build a sense of belonging to a community of values—the core of European identity—because on the other side of it there was another Europe representing different, even opposite, values on which the communist Eastern Europe was established. From the point of view of identity construction some new questions were raised as Europe after 1989 appeared to be more complicated than before. Where would the new European borders be placed? What do we all united Europeans have in common? Are we meaningfully different from whoever will be on the other side of the new border? Who will be excluded from the European integrating community and on what grounds? What will be the basis of the new collective identity of the EU? Do we, all European, in the West and in the East, share the same values and consider them to be the foundation of the united Europe? It seems that it will not be possible to build a common European identity on the basis of shared cultural tradition and common heritage as there is too much diversity to overcome. It is more likely that a common European identity may be constructed on the basis of liberal, civic values, less exclusive and more forward-looking. It is therefore of utmost importance that European institutions firmly stand by their liberal values, especially in view of the current illiberal turn in many EU countries.