VIenna peace and security talks 2026
INTEGRATION IN THE SHADOW OF WAR: UKRAINE AND THE EU
Four and a half years of full-scale war in Ukraine have dramatically changed the country, its neighborhood, and Europe as a whole. The cost of this war has been tremendous, with some estimates nearing 2 million human casualties and hundreds of billions of dollars in environmental and infrastructure damage.
The renewed efforts to negotiate a "deal" with Russia, initiated by Donald Trump after his return to the White House in 2025, have prompted Europeans—whose disagreement with Trump’s approach added another rift to the transatlantic relationship—to invest more in seeking alternatives for the EU, Ukraine, and a potential post-ceasefire arrangement, especially one with Ukraine as part of the European Union.
While any future settlement remains fraught with uncertainties—including a lack of common ground between Ukraine and Russia on key issues, doubts about the level of US commitment to a deal and security guarantees for Ukraine—it is high time to lay the groundwork for fulfilling the promise the EU made to Ukraine in 2022 by granting it candidate member status. The discussions around EU enlargement to Ukraine have been complicated by multiple factors: doubts about the EU’s "absorption capacity"; resistance among some member states and their populations to accepting a country devastated by war; questions regarding the fairness of expediting Ukraine’s accession ahead of other candidate countries who have waited for years or decades; and concerns over Ukraine’s readiness and capacity to implement necessary reforms.
This conference aimed to assess where Ukraine stands in the fifth year of the full-scale war and to ask hard questions about the readiness of Kyiv, Brussels, and other EU capitals to move EU–Ukraine relations towards full integration. By examining domestic political developments in Ukraine, the dynamics of negotiations with Russia, and the evolving security environment on the Russia–EU border, we asked: What kind of EU enlargement to Ukraine is possible in 2027?
The conference was organized in cooperation with FES Regional Office for International Cooperation and Karl-Renner-Institut. The event “EU35 in 2035? Dreams, Illusions and Reality” was open to the public - see the video below!
