The European Union’s (EU) security role in its neighbourhoods is undergoing a significant transformation. Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine is reshaping both the EU’s concrete security activities in and with neighbouring countries and the justifications and objectives that the Union attaches to its security engagement. These developments unfold in the context of – and also represent a response to – a changing European security architecture, in which the roles of the existing security organisations and arrangements are in flux. Notably, the EU reinvigorated its enlargement policy in 2022, opening a membership perspective for Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, while advancing the accession of the Western Balkan candidates. This creates a new rationale for the EU’s security engagement, as partners are increasingly expected to become future members of the Union.
This InvigoratEU Long Policy Report traces the EU’s evolving security practice and narratives in the Eastern neighbourhood and the Western Balkans, both before and after the outbreak of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. It focuses in particular on how, and to what extent, the EU’s approach to security engagement in the neighbourhoods, including capacity building, changed in 2022. Capacity building is not a single policy or instrument but rather a cross-cutting approach within the EU’s security activities, encompassing training, equipping, and advising. It is conducted by a variety of EU actors and through different instruments such as the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations and the European Peace Facility (EPF) support measures. The report discusses how different logics have shaped the EU’s capacity building as part of the Union’s broader security role in the neighbourhoods. Drawing on approximately one hundred EU documents, it examines the justifications that the EU has provided for its security policies and tests four key hypotheses. First, it analyses the role of a geopolitical logic in the EU’s capacity building efforts in the neighbourhoods. Second, it explores the impact of the logic of modernization on the EU’s engagement. Third, it investigates the extent to which demand or requests from partners in the neighbourhoods have shaped EU security policies. Finally, it assesses whether, and how, the objectives linked to EU enlargement are reflected in the Union’s capacity building efforts.
Overall, the report argues that, while the EU’s policies in the Eastern neighbourhood and the Western Balkans previously centred on comprehensive security, the external–internal security nexus, and reform support, they now increasingly focus on defence, in some cases resembling pragmatic security and defence partnerships. This change has been particularly evident in the Eastern neighbourhood, culminating in the military aid provided to support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. At the same time, the EU’s narrative regarding the Eastern neighbourhood has shifted away from earlier geopolitical ambiguity and an emphasis on transformation towards more openly geopolitical agenda-setting and a recognition of the neighbourhoods’ urgent security needs in an increasingly hostile environment. In the case of the Western Balkans, the rhetorical change has not been as marked, as geopolitical motivations were already prominent in the EU’s narrative regarding the region before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, the growing importance of defence issues represents a novel turn in the Western Balkans as well.
The EU’s expanded role in defence support across both neighbourhoods reflects the evolving security environment and architecture, where demand for European defence solutions is increasing. At the same time, the EU’s earlier niche – incentivising reform and embracing a comprehensive approach to security – remains relevant. The report highlights that the EU’s capacity building concept is increasingly shifting away from international intervention towards pragmatic security partnerships. It then turns to policy recommendations, urging the EU to build upon the current geopolitical momentum to respond more effectively to its neighbours’ security needs, while avoiding an overemphasis on reform when other forms of support are required. On the other hand, it also recommends careful consideration of the risks of military capacity building in contexts where regime legitimacy is questionable, and underlines the importance of reform in strengthening democratic control.
