ABSTRACT
Eastern European countries were lumped together into one unit the Eastern Bloc, a military and ideological enemy of the West, civilizationally different and rather unknown. In the process of historical relations between Eastern and Western Europe, a number of borders have been created, sustaining differences between the Western and Eastern European identities. One important and deeply rooted boundary in Europe that could be seen in a longue duree perspective as sustaining the division between East and West is the religious boundary. During the Cold War, there emerged a communication border between Eastern and Western Europe, caused by censorship and language politics introduced by Eastern Communist regimes trying to prevent the transfer of ideas from West to East. The candidate countries with Christian Orthodox or Muslim populations have to face more suspicion and questioning of their belonging to Europe than East Central European countries with Western Christian populations.
