THE IMPACT OF THE UKRAINE CONFLICT ON THE EUROPEAN UNION'S ASPIRATIONS FOR STRATEGIC AUTONOMY

Abstract

The European Union aspires to become one of the world's leading strategic powers, and from that position to pursue objectives like: stability, ability to set standards, or advancement of its own values (Charles Michel). The EU began a process of combining its relevant policies and instruments in response to heightened awareness of security challenges in its region and a turbulent worldwide climate. The underlying idea has been to strengthen the EU's ability to act, with the goal of achieving a higher level of strategic autonomy. Nevertheless, the war in Ukraine has increasingly exposed the limits of these ambitions. The EU's current challenges in its Eastern Neighborhood will force it to go beyond its current crisis management and conflict resolution tools, which have allowed it to deal with unresolved conflicts and hybrid threats and move forward to become capable of defending and promoting its own interests, as well as enhancing its credibility as a strong foreign policy actor. The aim of this contribution is to assess the concept of strategic autonomy of the European Union to expound the imbalance between the growing expectations for a stronger EU political role on the international stage and the limited opportunities available to the EU to meet these challenges. It seeks to analyze the objectives, limitations, and prospects of the EU's ambitions in an international context marked by growing tension and instability.