Two years of war in Europe: EU-Ukraine relations
Editorial 11 March 2024Editorial by: Nicola Frau
At dawn on February 24, 2022, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced the start of a ‘special military operation’ in eastern Ukraine, aimed at ensuring the safety of Russian citizens. He threatened countries intervening with consequences never seen before. Immediately, air and missile attacks began across Ukraine. Putin was confident of capturing Kyiv and ousting the legitimate government led by Zelensky within a few weeks, but things turned out differently.
After two years, costing tens of thousands of lives, the war is still ongoing, Zelensky still is the President of Ukraine, and the world appears to have returned to a Cold War-era division into blocs. In the meantime, Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022, obtaining candidate status in June 2022. In December 2023, EU leaders decided to initiate accession negotiations.
The world is no longer the same. In this issue of NEU, we will analyze how the relations between the European Union and Ukraine have changed after two years of war in the heart of Europe.
