The author seeks to elucidate some controversial problems of the formation of both civic and national self-consciousness within the framework of the analysis of the politics of identity and citizenship which has assumed increasing importance in Western and Eastern European countries. Citizenship is considered as a dynamic construct that should be viewed as a process through which specific rights and obligations are exercised. It is widely recognized now that effective citizenship rests on a rigorous and viable system of civic education, which informs the individual of his civil rights and obligations. Therefore, the problem of national and civic identities as well as the criteria for their definition has become crucial in the discussion of the concept of citizenship. Citizenship can be defined as a set of civil, political and social rights forming the foundation for civilised life in a political community. Citizenship is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that has produced differing views of the concept. In this respect, the notion and the idea itself of citizenship very often overlap with the notions of nationality and nation-state. Certainly, in the West citizenship can be characterised by an interiorised process of identification in the nation due to the deep-rooted democratic values, reflecting the ‘inner orientations’ of both individuals and groups. Even in the majority of post-communist states, which remained authoritarian at the early stage of their formation, ‘the chief motives for state exploitation consisted of both short-term survival and long-term commitments to democracy’