THE VISION OF EC MEMBERSHIP - LITHUANIAN NATIONALISM AS A STRATEGY OFMODERNIZATION

The Republic of Lithuania was internationally recognized as a sovereig n state in the aftermath of the failed Soviet coup d'etat in late Augu st 1991. From mid 1989 the Lithuanian elite perceived full independenc e as a possible option and Lithuania placed herself in the forefront o f Soviet secessionism with the declaration of independence on March 11 , 1990. However, the nationalistic rhetoric of the Lithuanian politica l leaders had a fatal flaw - they were willing to submit sovereignty i n order to gain modernization. This is indicated by the stated goal of Lithuanian membership of the EC. Thus, the author argues, Lithuanian nationalism is partly constituted by a desire for modernization, and t hat the economic failure of the USSR motivated the quest for national independence. A continued link to the crisi-ridden Soviet Union would deprive Lithuania of the possibility of modernization. Nationalism and secession were therefore seen as an adequate strategy to pave the way for an orientation towards the West, not excluding submission of stat e sovereignty to supra-national structures.