ABSTRACT
Western institutions have been viewed as a legitimisation of those portions of the leadership that in the past had been part of the internal opposition to the communist system. Regular assertions by members of the Russian leadership that imply the possibility of territorial revisionism and a re-assertion of Russian great power interests in the area obviously contribute to security concerns among some of Russia's Western neighbours. Since the end of the cold war a major concern of the former communist countries of East-Central and Eastern Europe, including the Russian Federation, has been the search for a new security regime in the region. The Central European countries have a vested interest in the security guarantees that entry into Western institutions are expected to provide. Western Europe must decide both the nature of the new Europe that is in the process of creation as well as means to accomplish the integration of the East into existing and modified European institutions.
