EU Security Challenges in the Context of the Russia - Ukraine War
Author : Miranda Mikadze, Gela Giorgadze 23/10/2026
The Russia–Ukraine war has significantly transformed the European security environment and exposed the systemic challenges facing the European security architecture. The conflict has demonstrated that the post-Cold War European security model, largely based on the principles of international law, economic interdependence, and cooperative security, has proven insufficient to address emerging security threats. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of the Russia–Ukraine war on the transformation of the European Union's foreign and security policy and to identify the key factors shaping the EU's capabilities and limitations as a security actor.
The study is based on a qualitative research design and employs a combination of document analysis, comparative analysis, and historical-analytical methods. The research examines official European Union documents, strategic policy papers, reports of international organizations, and contemporary academic literature. The theoretical framework draws upon Neorealism, Liberal Institutionalism, and Constructivism, enabling an assessment of the influence of the balance of power, institutional capacities, and normative factors on the development of the European Union's security policy.
The findings demonstrate that the Russia–Ukraine war has significantly accelerated the transformation of the EU's security policy and reinforced the importance of defence capabilities, strategic autonomy, and energy security. The European Union has gradually shifted from a policy primarily based on economic and diplomatic instruments toward a more comprehensive security approach encompassing military, cyber, hybrid, energy, and information security challenges.
The research concludes that the European Union is at a historic turning point, facing the choice between maintaining its traditional role as primarily an economic and political union or evolving into a fully-fledged security actor. The Russia–Ukraine war has reaffirmed the importance of collective defence and highlighted the necessity of further strengthening the European Union's security policy to ensure long-term European stability and resilience.
Keywords: European Union, Russia–Ukraine War, European Security, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), Hybrid Threats.
Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.55367/FDKT9514