The large-scale military offensive launched by Russia against Ukraine in 2022 signaled not only a regional security crisis for the European Union (EU), but also an identity and strategy breaking point. The European order, built on the principles of peace, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights since the end of the Cold War, has faced a fundamental challenge with this war. For many years, the EU has defined itself as a “normative power” and has preferred to exert influence in international relations through value-based diplomacy, economic tools, and soft power elements rather than military capacity. However, the Ukrainian War has clearly exposed the limits of this approach, making it imperative for the Union to undergo a fundamental transformation in military, strategy, and energy dimensions in order to exist as a geopolitical actor in the international system.
Russia’s occupation of Ukraine has eliminated years of inertia in the EU’s security architecture, prompting the Union to take swift and comprehensive decisions. In the first months of the war, the EU provided lethal weapons support to a country directly through the European Peace Facility for the first time in its history, a step that symbolized the Union’s move beyond the normative limits of its security policy. During the same period, significant steps were taken to increase defense spending, develop joint military capabilities, and strengthen intelligence sharing among member states. All these developments mark the beginning of the EU’s transition in its foreign policy identity from a civilian power image to a geopolitical actor.
The institutional basis for this transformation was solidified with the adoption of the European Strategic Compass document in 2022. The Strategic Compass redefined the Union’s vision, threat perception, and capacity for action in the areas of foreign policy and security, aiming to ensure that the EU can respond to global crises more swiftly, in a coordinated manner, and more effectively. While emphasizing that the Union must assume responsibility for its own security, the document also envisions maintaining relations with NATO and the US within a complementary framework. In this regard, the EU continues to be a part of the transatlantic security system while maintaining its claim to strategic autonomy.
Yet at this point, particularly during Donald Trump’s presidency, the United States’ criticism of NATO and the tension in transatlantic relations have had an indirect but profound impact on the transformation of the EU’s security identity. The Trump administration’s characterization of NATO as “an organization of allies that do not fulfill their financial obligations” within the framework of its “America First” policy has weakened European states’ confidence in US security guarantees. Trump’s harsh criticism of many European countries, especially Germany and France, for not increasing their defense spending deepened doubts in the European society about the “sustainability of the US guarantorship.” This process was symbolized by French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement that “NATO is brain dead,” accelerating discussions on strategic autonomy in Europe. Therefore, it can be said that the search for strategic independence, which became more pronounced during the Trump era, also played a role in the steps taken by the EU to strengthen its defense capabilities after the Ukrainian War.
The transformation in the EU’s foreign policy following the Ukrainian War has not been confined to the military sphere, but has also had profound effects on energy, economy, and enlargement policies. The heavy energy dependence on Russia has revealed the Union’s strategic vulnerability, necessitating steps such as diversifying energy supply, increasing investments in renewable energy, and reorganizing external supply sources. The EU has sought to reduce its dependence on Russian gas by strengthening energy cooperation, particularly with Norway, Azerbaijan, the US, and North African countries. In this process, Türkiye’s position as an energy corridor and geopolitical role in the Eastern Mediterranean has increased its strategic importance for the EU.
Additionally, the renewed emphasis on the expansion narrative toward Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkan countries has also expanded the geographical borders of the EU’s security identity. The enlargement policy is now not merely a tool for economic integration, but has also become a strategic instrument for safeguarding security and stability. This situation heralds a new period in which the EU’s foreign policy priorities are being redefined and security is being addressed through both military and political integrity.
Nevertheless, the EU’s transformation process faces certain structural limitations. There are major differences among member states in terms of threat perception, foreign policy priorities, and defense strategies. While Eastern European countries advocate a security architecture fully dependent on NATO, some Western European countries, notably France, prioritize strategic autonomy. This situation occasionally weakens unity in the implementation phase of the Union’s common security policies. Furthermore, the fact that decision-making processes are based on unanimity limits the capacity for rapid response. In this respect, although the EU has demonstrated institutional resilience in the face of crises, it still has limited capacity in terms of its strategic autonomy objective.
All these developments reveal both the necessity and the challenges of the transformation in the EU’s foreign policy identity from normative power to geopolitical power. The Ukrainian War has shown that the EU can no longer rely solely on diplomatic and economic tools to ensure its own security and regional stability. Moreover, the building of military capacity and the pursuit of strategic autonomy must be a process that does not conflict with the EU’s fundamental values. European identity has historically been shaped on the basis of peace, solidarity, and law, and the militarization of this identity brings along criticisms of the Union’s founding normative structure.
Consequently, the Ukrainian War has initiated an irreversible transformation in the EU’s foreign policy and security identity. The Union is now striving to take decisive steps towards becoming not only a “normative power”, but also a “strategic actor” in global politics. However, for this transformation to be lasting and effective, the EU must strengthen its internal integrity, reform its decision-making processes, and support strategic autonomy with concrete policies. With the impact of transatlantic fractures that became evident during the Trump era, the EU has now realized the risks of relying entirely on external actors for its security architecture. Therefore, following the Ukrainian War, the EU has entered a new phase not only in the foreign policy domain but also in terms of its identity. This phase represents a period in which Europe is seeking to build its own security architecture and struggling to find a balance between geopolitical realities and normative values.
