Brief/ The EU’s Geopolitical Enlargement – Ukraine’s Accession Will Make the EU a Stronger Security Actor by Anna Osypchuk and Kristi Raik
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine led the European Union to grant Ukraine candidate country status. This major shift in the EU’s approach was broadly seen by member states as a geopolitical imperative. Geopolitical enlargement holds greater geopolitical importance now and, if successful, it will be an essential part of Western efforts in preventing that Russia […]
The EU’s Geopolitical Enlargement – Ukraine’s Accession Will Make the EU a Stronger Security Actor
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine prompted the European Union to grant candidate country status to Ukraine. This major shift in the EU’s approach was broadly seen by member states as a geopolitical imperative. Indeed, this time the geopolitical significance of enlargement is stronger than ever. A successful enlargement will be an essential part of Western […]
Brief/ Ukraine’s NATO Membership Will Strengthen Europe’s Security by Riccardo Alcaro
Although NATO Summit in Vilnius has not set the conditions for Ukraine to join the Alliance, it has made clear that Ukraine will one day become a member. In this JOINT Brief, Riccardo Alcaro (Project Coordinator, Istituto Affari Internazionali – IAI) argues that, for years to come, European security will have to be built in defence from […]
Ukraine’s NATO Membership Will Strengthen Europe’s Security
NATO’s refusal to set a clear pathway for Ukraine’s membership largely dominated the expert and public debate over the Alliance’s summit in Vilnius last week.[1] It also overshadowed its significant, even historic, results.[2] After all, in Vilnius, NATO all but acquired a new member (barring surprises from Turkey’s parliament): not (yet) Ukraine but Sweden. Coming […]
Brief/ A Critical Juncture: EU’s Venezuela Policy Following the War in Ukraine by Anna Ayuso, Tiziano Breda, Elsa Lilja Gunnarsdottir and Marianne Riddervold
EU’s goal in Venezuela has been to promote a negotiated democratic transition, but it has been unable to foster it. The change of the US Venezuela policy under Biden, the shift towards the left in most new Latin American governments, and EU’s need to diversify its energy supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have provided an opening […]
Paper/ How to Reduce the Impact of Internal Contestation, Regional Fragmentation and Multipolar Competition on EU Foreign and Security Policy by Sarah van Bentum et al.
In this JOINT Paper, Sarah van Bentum (Freie Universität Berlin – FUB), Caterina Bedin (Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique – FRS), Zachary Paikin (Centre for European Policy Studies – CEPS), Gregor Walter-Drop (FUB), Steven Blockmans (CEPS), Agnès Levallois (FRS) & Tiffany Guendouz (FRS) outline strategies that may help to mitigate the negative impact of internal contestation, […]
Podcast/ Multipolar Competition’s Impact on EU Foreign Policy: Lessons from Ukraine, Iran and the South China Sea
Recent years have witnessed the return of competition between the world’s most powerful states, which is exerting a significant impact on EU foreign and security policy and constraining the EU’s room for manoeuvre as well. The advent of an increasingly multipolar world also raises questions about the reach of the EU’s interests and influence — […]
Paper/ Tackling the Constraints on EU Foreign Policy towards Ukraine: From Strategic Denial to Geopolitical Awakening by Kristi Raik, Steven Blockmans, Assem Dandashly, Gergana Noutcheva, Anna Osypchuk and Anton Suslov
EU-Ukraine relations have been overshadowed by tightening geopolitical competition with Russia ever since 2004. This JOINT Report, by Kristi Raik (International Centre for Defence and Security- ICDS), Steven Blockmans (Centre for European Policy Studies- CEPS), Assem Dandashly, Gergana Noutcheva (Maastricht University), Anna Osypchuk and Anton Suslov (School for Policy Analysis, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy- […]
Tackling the Constraints on EU Foreign Policy towards Ukraine: From Strategic Denial to Geopolitical Awakening
This report explores the evolution of EU policy towards Ukraine, with major turning points occurring in 2004, 2014 and February 2022 when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started. The dominant constraining factor in the case of Ukraine was multipolar (or rather bipolar) competition between the EU and Russia over the European political, economic and security […]
Russia’s War on Ukraine: Two Inconvenient Truths for the EU
Following a spectacular Ukrainian counteroffensive and the retaking of Kherson, the war in Europe’s east has moved into a new phase. The immediate focus is now shifting to the chilling effects of winter – both on the frontline and on Western morale. That said, the EU and its member states are now confronted with two […]
The EU and Ukraine’s Public Opinion: Changing Dynamic
Introduction: The West appreciated Ukraine’s pluralism by default After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukrainian society and political establishment chose a different path of transformation than Russia. Ukraine gained its independence peacefully and without internal conflicts thanks to an agreement between the national-democratic opposition and the so called “national-communists”. The West appreciated the facts […]