European Foreign Policy in the New Europe
March 4, 2014
Summary:
The situation in Ukraine cuts to the heart of the EU's promise -- and challenges -- as a foreign policy actor. The union still has a powerful pull for many countries, but it is sorely limited in its ability to respond to crises that might create.
The dramatic events unfolding on Europe’s doorstep seem an affront to the European Union’s core political values: self-determination, rule of law, and peaceful conflict resolution. Yet even as the situation in Ukraine has deteriorated, Europe has largely remained a passive observer. EU representatives’ initial efforts to help stabilize the situation after the ouster of former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych petered out with Russia’s invasion of the Crimean peninsula.