EU Collective Assistance to Ukrainian Self-Defence: Forms and Means of A New Kind of European Security Policy Response

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The research objective of this article is to explore the defining features of EU assistance to Ukraine by means of previously untested forms of collective action. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: EU members took various national measures in response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. In addition to support from EU members, an unprecedented modality of collective military assistance emerged in the practice of the European Union following February 2022. The nature, various aspects and purpose of this novel course of EU foreign and security policy action will be examined and identified mainly on the basis of EU acts and documents as primary sources of explanatory relevance for the understanding of both the objectives and the chosen means of implementation. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: After a brief review of coordinated military assistance from outside the EU and non-military aid from the Union, the mobilization of the European Peace Facility (EPF) is examined as a specific financial instrument of military assistance. For the proper identification of the nature and scope of EU defence aid to Ukraine, it is explained how the EU initiated and covered the costs of military training activities and transfers of various military assets through recourse to the EPF. RESEARCH RESULTS: All forms of defence aid have been decided upon jointly and mostly financed from the EPF as a particular tool of collective burden-sharing. Therefore, EU defence support to Ukraine has been carried out as collective assistance because of the nature of its approval and financial resources underlying the transfer of equipment and training activities. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The EPF has served as a useful vehicle for the “mutualisation” of financial costs and the coordination of military hardware and “software” (skills and knowledge) transfers from EU Member States into collectively funded assistance for Ukrainian self-defence.