Russia’s War on Ukraine: the EU’s Geopolitical Awakening

Summary:

In reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has started making use of its full toolkit, from fierce economic sanctions to the activation of the European Peace Facility to equip Ukraine with arms.

This geopolitical awakening has been long awaited. But how sustainable is this geopolitical leap? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is permanently reshaping the European security order and the EU must regain control of its political, strategic, and energy future. It is not surprising that the March 10–11 EU Summit, gathering at Versailles as part of the rotating French EU presidency, focuses on European energy independence and European defense. Just as the Covid-19 crisis forced the EU to acknowledge the strategic cost of its dependence on China, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine obliges the EU to address the interlinked security and economic challenges presented by a revanchist Russia and use the tools at its disposal to address the new combination of geopolitics and geoeconomics.