The EU has embarked on a new eastward enlargement at the time of a major breaking point in the European and international order. It is obvious that Ukraine’s accession will bring about substantial changes in the EU’s policies and international clout.
The EU’s size and geopolitical weight will grow considerably. Like any other Member State, Ukraine will bring its foreign and security policy priorities, resources, and concerns to the EU, thus shifting its balance and priorities. Ukraine’s experience of war, its threat perceptions, its battle-hardened army, and its fast-growing defence industrial capacity will make a real difference.
This paper presents a preliminary analysis of how Ukraine’s accession might change EU foreign, security, and defence policy, looking at relations with Russia; transatlantic relations, NATO, and defence; the approach to rules-based multilateralism; the so-called Global South; and China.
It proposes that the EU, together with Ukraine, should advance Ukraine’s accelerated integration and successful contribution to the EU’s foreign, security, and defence policy.
This paper is the third publication of the project on ‘The political and economic impact of Ukraine’s EU accession on the EU and Estonia’ conducted by the ICDS in cooperation with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels and the Ukrainian Institute for Economic Research and Policy. The multi-disciplinary research team assesses the potential political, security-related, institutional, economic, and budgetary implications of Ukraine’s EU accession. The project is led by Dr Kristi Raik, Deputy Director of the ICDS, and supported by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This paper was originally published by the ICDS and can be found here.
