SCANDINAVIAN STATES’ STANCES ON EUROPEAN AND EURO-ATLANTIC INTEGRATION OF UKRAINE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29038/2524-2679-2024-03-123-141Keywords:
Scandinavian countries, EU, NATO, Russian-Ukrainian war, foreign policy, European and Euro-Atlantic integrationAbstract
The article analyses the positions of the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Den- mark and Norway) on Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO as well as their vision of Ukraine’s place in the future European security architecture. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of documents, statistics, and secondary sources (media publications and analytics) on this topic.
The authors note that among the Scandinavian countries, Sweden is the biggest supporter of Ukraine’s European integration. As one of the initiators of the Eas- tern Partnership in 2008, this country has acted as a sort of advocate for Ukraine within the EU. At the same time, both Sweden and Denmark have been provi- ding assistance for many years aimed at reforms and bringing Ukraine closer to the EU. As for Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic course, the Scandinavian countries have never opposed Ukraine’s accession to the Alliance, and the authors describe their position as positive-neutral.
After the outbreak of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, the Scandi- navian states gradually came to a decision to support Ukraine on its path to EU membership, while simultaneously reserving the clear requirement that it meet the Copenhagen criteria. At present, they all welcome the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO. In addition, these countries offer and provide tangible assistance to Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor, in implementing reforms, and in pro- moting economic development. The article argues that the Scandinavian states have a clear vision of tectonic changes in the security architecture of the Euro- pean region, which are currently in the process of formation and will depend, among other things, on the outcome of the Russian-Ukrainian war. According to this vision, Kyiv’s accession to the EU and NATO will help to achieve security, stability and prosperity both in Ukraine and throughout Europe. The reaction of the Northern European countries to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shown that they are our reliable partners, and Ukraine should make maximum efforts to develop this direction of its foreign policy.
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