This contribution examines the domestic reinterpretations of international and European recommendations in Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC). It asks under what conditions these institutional recommendations, but also global processes such as the university rankings, affect domestic public policies. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which have experienced a far-reaching reform process since 1989, have been particularly affected by new standards promoted at the European and international level. The article shows that the combined external and domestic pressures affect HEI in multiple and sometimes contradictory ways. Based on the Polish and Ukrainian cases, it reassesses the (party) political factor in the reorientation of HE reforms. It shows that Europeanization and internationalization are neither uniform nor linear processes. Ultimately, the announced diversification of HEI appears as a longer-term process whose outcome remains uncertain.