Why does Ukraine matter to the EU?

Published April 17, 2013 at 11:58 am

Activists carry a huge Ukrainian flag during a march of the opposition in Kiev marking Day of Sobornist on January 20, 2013. Day of Sobornist is a Ukrainian holiday marking reunification of the centre and east of Ukraine with the west of the country in 1919

Photo by AFP

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.

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.