MAIN STAGES AND CHALLENGES OF UKRAINE’S INTEGRATION INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION DURING THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

Abstract

The article analyzes the main stages of the formation, development of relations, and integration policy of Ukraine toward the European Union. The author examines the motivational factors and driving principles behind the accession of independent Ukraine to the democratic European cultural and civilizational space and its integration into the powerful European Union, which today unites 27 countries of the continent. It is emphasised that the EU occupies a prominent place in the modern world and is of great importance for the development of our country and society on democratic principles, that the expansion and deepening of economic ties with the countries of the united Europe are the foundations and cornerstone of Ukraine's accession and desired entry into the European Union as a full member. At the dawn of Ukraine’s independent trajectory, on December 2, 1991, Brussels adopted a Declaration, which welcomed the expression of will by the Ukrainian people and supported the course toward independent development chosen by official Kyiv. On December 5, 1991, the Ukrainian Parliament in its Address to the Parliaments and Peoples of the World, similarly endorsed the fundamental provisions of the European Union’s Declaration. With the signing in 1994 of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Ukraine and the EU – a ten-year agreement ratified in 1998 – bilateral relations entered a phase of progressively intensive development and advanced steadily forward.

The chosen course of our state and society toward European integration has always enjoyed support from the European Union and its leading member states. At the same time, as the author notes, the Ukrainian authorities did not always pursue this course consistently; in particular, in 2003 and 2013 there were certain deviations. The government’s decision to postpone the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU caused significant turbulence and led to protests, initially involving young people and later broader sections of society, which went down in history as Euromaidan.

The author analyzes the stages and distinctive features of Ukraine’s path toward the European Union, including the complicating circumstances of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and the potential for accelerated progress through the relevant stages and procedures following the signing of the Association Agreement in 2014 and the Application for EU membership in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion. The article identifies the objectives and challenges of the current stage of negotiations, as well as the imperative to achieve consensus among EU member states regarding Ukraine’s accession to the integration union.