The European Union and Ukraine: From Neighbor to Family Member : A study of a changed European identity narration in relation to Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022

Abstract: This thesis investigates the occurrence of a shift in the EU’s narration about the Self and Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022. Previous research points toward the EU as having a diminishing outlook on Eastern Europe and constantly keeping Ukraine at arm’s length. Furthermore, the EU has imagined Eastern Europe gazing longingly and admiringly toward the EU. However, this thesis contends there has been a shift in this view regarding Ukraine compared to 2014, after the Russian annexation of Crimea. Theoretically, Europe is conceptualized as a community of values, a signifier, and a lacking subject without a complete identity. This theorizing leaves the demarcation of the EU’s identity borders contingent. The analysis discerns that the EU in 2022 narrates the Self as a project and a dream, with Ukraine displaying European values and vitality to this dream. This narration leaves space for the signifier Europe to expand its scope to Ukraine. The gaze that reflects at the EU is not of naive admiration but of strength and endurance, compelling the EU to narrate Ukraine as part of the Self. Moreover, this changed Ukrainian gaze strengthens the European identity based on values because Ukraine shows that European values are worth dying for.