The EU Security Agenda: Crises, Dilemmas, and the Search for Solutions

Abstract

The article examines the transformation of the European Union’s security agenda in the context of polycrisis and structural changes in the international order. The relevance of the topic is due to the erosion of the post-war European security architecture, the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the growing role of hybrid, technological, energy, and information threats, as well as the need to reconsider the EU’s actorness in the field of security. The aim of the study is to conceptualize the EU security agenda as a political and analytical construct shaped within a cycle of crises in which policy responses generate new strategic dilemmas and determine the further evolution of the integration project.

The methodological framework is based on a comparative approach, critical analysis of contemporary academic and analytical sources, and the application of the theoretical provisions of securitization, the concept of polycrisis, and agenda-setting studies. The use of these methods made it possible to identify the interconnection between the discursive construction of threats, the institutional evolution of the EU, and the limits of integration in the security domain.

The findings demonstrate that the contemporary EU security agenda is characterized by the expansion of the thematic scope of security, the securitization of economic, technological, and energy policies, and the fragmentation of institutional response mechanisms. The key types of crises are identified as those of strategic stability, the normative order and identity, transatlantic asymmetry, and energy security. It is argued that crisis is not only a destructive phenomenon but also a structural condition of European integration, opening “windows of opportunity” for reforms while simultaneously creating risks of institutional overload and political conflict. The decisive role of Ukraine in rethinking the European security architecture and in shifting the focus from a normative to a hybrid security model—combining military capabilities, societal resilience, and alliance mechanisms—is demonstrated. It is concluded that the effectiveness of the EU security agenda depends on its ability to reconcile strategic autonomy with transatlantic unity, overcome institutional fragmentation, and develop a coherent model of multidimensional security.