Ukraine and Multi­lat­eral Formats in Central Europe

In this policy paper, Alisa Muzergues and Pavel Havlíček analyse the multi­lat­eral formats and coop­er­a­tions in Central and Eastern Europe in which Ukraine partic­i­pates — or aspires to participate.

This paper aims at taking stock of the various multi­lat­eral formats and coop­er­a­tion efforts in Central and Eastern Europe, where Ukraine is either a partic­i­pant or an aspiring country. While the EU (and partially NATO) has been the dominant force in the region, it has not been the only game in town. Moreover, some of the formats, discussed in the paper, emerged precisely to compen­sate for the EU’s inability to fill in the security vacuum, which Ukraine felt it found itself in.

Even­tu­ally, the paper provides for a compre­hen­sive account of oppor­tu­ni­ties for Ukraine and the EU and all other parties inter­ested in further upscaling the coop­er­a­tion and promoting closer inte­gra­tion of Ukraine within the Euro-Atlantic community. The granting of EU candidacy status to Ukraine in June 2022 provided a new impetus for this.