Geopolitical EU? The EU's Wartime Assistance to Ukraine

Abstract

AbstractThis article explores the European Union's (EU's) assistance to Ukraine through the lens of critical geopolitics with a view to ascertaining whether the EU has become more geopolitical in its thinking and actions towards Eastern Europe. Our findings point to a mixed picture. Whilst the EU ‘mindscape’ appears to have shifted in relation to Eastern Europe, Ukraine and itself as an actor in the region, it is less apparent that the EU's foreign and security policy action has become geopoliticised. The 2022 Russian invasion has certainly seen a step change from the hesitant and self‐conscious approach that characterised the EU's engagement with Eastern Europe prior to 2022. However, declarations such as that by the High Representative and Vice President of the European Commission (HRVP) around the ‘birth of geopolitical Europe’ appear to be somewhat premature, as there is limited evidence at this stage that the EU is willing to provide leadership on the geospatial (re)ordering of the region.