Future of the European Union: challenges and prospects

Abstract

The article covers the pressing issues that Brussels is challenged with, key points of its current foreign policy and a possible role of the European Union in the international arena in the near future. As the system of international relations has been transforming increasingly following the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, the present-day capacities of the Union are signifi cantly aff ected by several matters. Elaborating on them, the author focuses on the vulnerability caused by the weakened European security architecture, pivotal peculiarities of the EU engagement with Russia, its dialog across the Atlantic and with the countries in Asia, especially China, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, as well as mounting unsolved questions within the EU itself. At the same time the future of the EU disposition on the global stage is likely to be modifi ed by a multipolar world order which is taking shape right now. In this context, further collaboration across the Eurasian mainland may be formed within the so-called `Big Eurasia` format proposed by Russia.