Susceptibility of Ukrainian and Belarusian domestic actors to external actors’ approaches: puzzling patterns of transition

Abstract

We scrutinise key domestic actors in Belarus and Ukraine investigating under what conditions they are susceptible to external influences promoting opening. Although both countries can be characterised as limited access orders, they differ in their domestic structures as well as external relations. Compared to Belarus, Ukraine is characterised by more intense political and economic competition, significantly more active opposition groups, and more developed institutionalised relations with the EU. Notwithstanding, we find that Ukrainian actors have not always been more susceptible to external actors promoting open access institutions, while Belarusian actors are more susceptible to external actors promoting economic competition than assumed.