Yet, the EU should take a strategic pause and
ask this question. Brussels’s policy and the instruments it has used
have had little impact on Ukraine. The country is moving further away
from the EU and into a gray zone of no reform. Many in the union are
frustrated with Kyiv and wonder why they should be more pro-Ukrainian
than the Ukrainians themselves. Or why they have to save Ukrainians from
bad leadership or from Russia.
Carnegie Europe: Why does Ukraine matter to the EU?
Some adults turn their noses up at the question of “why,” believing it to be childish. And when it comes to the EU’s foreign policy, especially in its Eastern neighborhood, the question is considered simply inappropriate. That the EU will engage with its Eastern neighbors is just a given today. Take Ukraine. The EU has made a significant political investment in Kyiv over the years but has not given much thought to why Ukraine matters.
