Though meant also as a geographical classification for denoting the region between the River Elbe and the Ural mountains, the concept of 'Eastern Europe' is mainly used to expresses certain historically informed sociocultural differences within the continent. It carries heavy layers of ambivalence: Although the societies embraced by it all are regarded as 'European,' they do not come up 'fully' to the standard of what 'Europeanness' implies. In this ambivalent classification, the implicit norm is the West, and Eastern Europe remains as much Eastern, as it maintains its 'other than Western' character. Thus, the concept has always been deeply imbued with politics. On the part of Eastern Europeans, its inherent political character has manifested itself in continuous attempts to close up the East-West divide through adaptation to the Western norms of the time; on the part of the West, the same politicized attitude expressed itself in the interest-driven recognition/refusal of these Eastern attempts, having immediate consequences on the (re)drawing of the invisible political, economic, and military map of the continent of Europe. Such ambivalences also characterize deeply the current efforts to unite Europe. Moreover, they leave their mark on the internal social development of the region's societies, as well as having serious consequences in the continuation of their post-1989 crisis.