Principles of Ukraine’s European Integration in the Context of Countering Anti-Ukrainian Information Warfare: Mentality → Culture → Law → Public Administration

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the foundations of Ukraine’s European integration in the context of countering anti-Ukrainian information warfare through the study of the interrelation between mentality, culture, law, and public administration.

The study employs a set of general scientific and special legal methods, including historical-legal, systemic, comparative-legal, cultural, axiological, and formal-logical methods. The methodological basis of the research is the culture-cantered paradigm, according to which culture and societal mentality determine the type of law, public administration, and civilizational development.

The conducted research proves that Ukraine’s European choice has an objective civilizational character and corresponds to the cultural and mental characteristics of Ukrainian society. A stable relationship between the type of culture and the model of law and public administration has been established. It is substantiated that the Ukrainian cultural tradition historically gravitates toward an open, democratic, and human-cantered model of social organization, whereas the Russian state tradition is characterized by authoritarianism, statist, and the dominance of the state over the individual. It is determined that anti-Ukrainian information warfare is aimed at undermining Ukraine’s European civilizational identity and imposing authoritarian models of social development. Particular attention is paid to Ukraine’s perception of the European legal tradition, including the concepts of monism, natural law, the rule of law, and the priority of international law.

It is concluded that effective European integration of Ukraine requires not only formal harmonization of legislation but also overcoming post-Soviet administrative practices, strengthening democratic legal culture, and establishing a human-cantered model of public administration. Ukraine’s European course is a natural manifestation of its historical, cultural, and mental characteristics and an important factor in countering anti-Ukrainian information warfare.

Scientific novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive substantiation of the interrelation between mentality, culture, legal tradition, and the model of public administration as fundamental factors of Ukraine’s European integration in the context of counteracting anti-Ukrainian information warfare. The study further develops the concept of cultural and mental determination of an open (democratic) model of law and public administration, and substantiates the thesis on the civilizational incompatibility of the Ukrainian and Russian models of state and legal development.