Making an Assumption: Normative Power Europe, Russia and Ukraine

The assumption that this chapter puts forward is that the European Union (EU) can no longer be conceptualised as a normative power in international relations, and especially in relation to Eurasia. While this conceptualisation has performed a valuable role of making sense of the EU’s unique international security identity, the chapter argues that we have clearly reached its limits when assessing the EU’s approach to the politics and geopolitics of Eurasia. The EU’s measures, such as assistance packages to Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and the scramble for energy security clearly indicate that it is the tangible capacities that matter, and that serve as the basis for assessing the effectiveness of the EU as an actor.