The 2022 Russia: Ukraine War—A “Watershed” for the EU’s Foreign Policy in the Region?

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has seen a change in the European Union’s (EU) engagement with Eastern Europe and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has deemed it to be a “watershed moment for our Union” and for the EU’s foreign policy in the region. This chapter explores the EU assistance to Ukraine through the lens of “actorness” with a view to ascertain whether the EU as a foreign and security policy actor in relation to Ukraine and Eastern Europe has changed. The chapter’s findings point to that, on balance, the overall effects on the EU’s actorness as a consequence of the Ukraine is less than expected. The chapter also argue that the EU’s wartime assistance to Ukraine is perhaps more a conjunctural one-off in the EU’s foreign and security policy in the region, rather than a turning point with sustained effects on EU actorness.