Ukraine in the Global Context: The EU's Actorness in Question

Although the war of Russia against Ukraine appears to be far from over, it has already had a profound impact on global and European security architecture. An international organisation directly affected by the outbreak of the conflict is the European Union, which for decades has struggled to develop its profile as an effective, capable, and coherent international security actor. Given the EU’s response to the war, has the Union demonstrated that it is now a formidable security actor, or has the war further contributed to exposing the weakness of the CFSP, CSDP, and other relevant EU frameworks?

This ‘top-down’ question is important to assess the EU’s performance, but it is equally important to reverse our perspective and ask about the key member states of the EU, and the extent to which their response to the war in Ukraine strengthened or undermined EU’s international actorness. Countries of Central and Eastern Europe, but also Germany, France and Italy, have been the most active in their responses and policy initiatives. Have they mostly worked through the institutional frameworks of the EU? If not, then why not? And what does it say about these countries as well as the EU?

We will explore these questions at the international workshop organised jointly by Dr Kamil Zwolski and Prof. Artur Gruszczak at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland on November 17, 2023.

The plan of the day is as follows:  

• 10.30-12.30 The impact of the war in Ukraine on the EU as an international security actor
• 12.30-14.30 Lunch in a restaurant 
• 14.30-16.30 National responses to the war in Ukraine and their impact on the EU as an international security actor 

The format of the workshop will be that each session will start with a brief introduction by an invited speaker, followed by a discussion. 

The event is open to advanced and early-career researchers as well as policy practitioners.

If you would like to participate, please email Dr Kamil Zwolski (k.m.zwolski@soton.ac.uk) and Prof. Artur Gruszczak (artur.gruszczak@uj.edu.pl).

You won’t be expected to prepare a formal presentation. Rather, we want this event to provide the opportunity to share early reflections and formulate early arguments.  

We will aim to keep this event relatively small, around 15 participants, so please get in touch early.  

The workshop is supported by the European Union’s Jean Monnet Module Grant at the University of Southampton and the Faculty of International and Political Studies, Jagiellonian University in Kraków. There is no registration fee, and the lunch will be paid for.

Places are limited and we will consider expressions of interest in order of receiving them, with the deadline of October 20.