This article highlights the role of external audiences and their perceptions in analysing the politicization of EU development policy. We analyse how EU foreign assistance is understood in two different intermediary arenas of politicization – elites in different societal sectors and media – within Ukraine, a major recipient of EU aid. By investigating to what extent EU assistance is perceived to be politicized, in terms of salience and polarization we contribute to the debate on outside‐in politicization. Applying a perceptual approach to EU foreign policy studies, we focus on Ukrainian images of Self in its relation to the EU as a development actor and on Ukraine's evaluations of EU assistance. We consult the theory of framing and propose an operationalization of salience in terms of visibility, cultural congruence and emotive charge. We use the typology of cognitive, evaluative and affective images from political psychology to operationalize the notion of polarization.

中文翻译：

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欧盟发展政策的政治化：欧盟外部认知的作用（以乌克兰为例）

本文着重介绍了外部受众的作用及其看法，他们在分析欧盟发展政策的政治化过程中发挥了作用。我们分析了在乌克兰（欧盟援助的主要接受国）的两个不同的政治化中介领域（社会各阶层和媒体的精英）如何理解欧盟的外国援助。通过调查欧盟援助被视为政治化的程度，从显着性和两极分化的角度出发，我们为有关外部政治化的辩论做出了贡献。在欧盟外交政策研究中采用感知方法，我们将乌克兰自我的形象与欧盟作为发展主体的关系集中在一起，并关注乌克兰对欧盟援助的评价。我们参考了框架理论，并提出了可操作性在可见度，文化一致性和情感冲动方面的显着性。我们使用来自政治心理学的认知，评估和情感图像的类型学来实施两极分化的概念。