Ukrainian Diplomacy and the EU: Going beyond Association

Abstract

In 2019, as a result of election processes, the political leadership of both Ukraine and the EU changed. The first diplomatic contacts of the newly elected leaders augured an ambitious agenda of bilateral relations. On his first visit to Brussels, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the irreversibility of the country’s course towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration and noted the essential role of the EU in supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. In turn, the newly elected European Commission led by Ursula von Der Leyen called itself a ‘geopolitical’ Commission, which gave hope for the intensification of EU integration policy in the region and a more proactive position in the fight against Russian aggression. This article is an attempt to analyse the trend and results of the political dialogue between Ukraine and the EU in the period from June 2019 to April 2021. It also seeks to answer the question of what has been achieved and what agenda the current authorities in Kyiv and Brussels should promote in order to bring stability to Eastern Europe and the socioeconomic development to Ukraine, particularly in the context of renewing the Association Agreement. The author concludes by noting that within the framework of the post-pandemic recovery and the long-term EU budget for 2021–2027, EU member states will receive €1.8 trillion in support of socioeconomic development and ‘green’ transformation. This may lead to the widening of the already significant development gap between our country and the EU, thus making Ukraine’s European integration next to impossible unless its partners provide major assistance or an unexpected economic breakthrough takes place. It is also argued that 2021 and 2022 are going to be decisive, as it is during this period that the EU is expected to promulgate its political and normative documents defining Ukraine’s place in its ‘open strategic autonomy’ and the European Green Deal. Keywords: EU, European integration, Eastern Partnership, Association Agreement, renewal of the Agreement, European Neighbourhood Policy.