EVOLUTION AND THE MODERN STATE OF THE EU’S ACTORNESS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE LARGESCALE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR ON THE CONTINENT
Authors:   Lviv Polytechnic National University, Dorosh Lesia , Tushkyn Yurii ,   Lviv Polytechnic National University, Zakaulova Iuliia ,   Lviv Polytechnic National University
Published: February 2025

The Russian aggression against Ukraine has turned out to pose a threat not only to Europe, but also to the other current conflict zones being an obvious challenge for international security, global legal order, territorial integrity, unity, and sovereignty of the states in the world. Correspondingly, the research into the actorness of the EU, its status as the global civil and normative actor destined to protect the international legal order and the rule of law is considered to be relevant. The escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022 proved the EU to have preserved a proper global status.
The research source base comprises regulatory documents, treaties and agreements of the EU determining its status in the international arena and its positioning in the sphere of security and other spheres, especially, during the period of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war [7;10;12;34]. The basis for this analysis is complex analytical research of the modern manifestations of the EU’s actorness [2; 5; 11; 14; 17; 23-24; 27-28; 32; 40], in particular, its strategic and operational capabilities. [3; 6; 15; 18; 25; 29; 37; 41]. The synthetic works of researchers are also worth being highlighted [1; 8; 13; 16; 19-20; 30-31], those analyzing the challenges for the EU caused by the largescale Russian aggression against Ukraine, the impact of this exogenous factor on the security of certain European countries, and the implementation of the EU actorness as a whole.
The aim of the research is to identify the specificity of the EU’s actorness manifestations considering its peculiarities, key determinants, and the perspectives to be implemented in the light of the Russian-Ukrainian war, namely in the times of the full-scale invasion.
Research methodology. In order to achieve the research results, systemic and methodological approaches have been applied, which makes it possible to comprehensively consider the specificity of the EU’s actorness, to follow the dynamics of its manifestations and implementation taking into account the full-scale stage of the Russian-Ukrainian war started in February 2022 to reveal a range of interrelated factors influencing the transformation of the actorness of the United Europe.
Research results. The dynamics of the transition from the EU’s non-military approach to security issues to the emphasis on the development of the European Union from a civilian force to a comprehensive force exercising a strategic vision and playing an active role at every stage of international conflict management have been analyzed in detail.
It has been proven that in the conditions of the full-scale stage of the Russian-Ukrainian war, a significant change in the EU security paradigm can be observed: from a normative, liberal, and more optimistic perspective focused on the spread of the European norms and values of the 2000s to a more defensive and cautious European perspective in 2010, and to even more considerate, confident and strict treatment of the EU towards security issues in 2022, when the full-scale invasion against Ukraine started.
The EU sanctions against Russia, which have clearly gone beyond its previous “red lines”, demonstrate a remarkable shift in the EU position as a global actor possessing internal de-jure and de-facto powers to become a player in the regional security and be obviously capable of de-escalating the Russian-Ukrainian war together with its allies, namely the USA and Great Britain.
Value. It has been also emphasized that in its regulatory documents, the EU expresses the will to strengthen its actorness and the role in the sphere of security stating that during conflicts it will follow a multi-level approach and may act at the local, regional, national, and global levels, as well as develop the EU security structures accordingly.
The significance of the discussions regarding the fact that the EU still lacks integrity and inflexibility as a strategic player has been highlighted. This exposes the EU to the risk of failure of its international effort due to the absence or limitation of its hard power potential.