KluwerLawOnline.com - European Foreign Affairs Review

Editorial: Risks and Opportunities for EU Narratives in the Turbulent World

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

Towards Further Enlargement of the European Union: Legal Pathways to the Gradual Integration of Candidate Countries

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

Since Russia’s full-scale military aggression against Ukraine, further enlargement is again a ‘hot topic’ on the political agenda of the European Union. The accession prospect for countries from the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe is considered a necessary geopolitical investment in stability and security on the European continent. At the same time, the question arises as to when the candidate countries will meet the requirements for membership. Taking into account the demanding pre-accession conditionality, the concept of ‘gradual integration’ is increasingly put forward as the main policy response to this challenge. This article unpacks the background and meaning of ‘gradual integration’ as a mechanism of the EU’s revised enlargement methodology. In essence, it is argued that the focus on gradual integration of candidate countries is less innovative as it seems at first glance. Proceeding from the lessons of previous enlargement rounds, various legal pathways to the gradual integration of candidate countries can be identified.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

Economic Sanctions and the Geopolitical Commission: Evaluating the Effects of Decentralized Sanctions Enforcement on the EU’s Global Actorness

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

In 2022, as part of a multi-country response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union began adopting wide-ranging restrictive measures (‘sanctions’) against Russia. Simultaneously, the EU increased its attention to sanctions enforcement, recognizing that enforcement affects its foreign policy interests. Indeed, due to historically uneven enforcement by Member States, the EU has at best a mixed reputation for enforcement. To enhance its credibility at home and abroad, the Commission has begun offering guidance on the scope of sanctions as a means of strengthening enforcement.

This article analyses how the EU’s decentralized sanctions enforcement system affects its actorness, defined as its ‘capacity to act’ in a way that enables influence on the international stage, and concludes it suffers from a lack of cohesion and autonomy. It then examines whether the Commission’s guidance has strengthened the EU’s enforcement environment and, by extension, the EU’s actorness. Based on an analysis of public documents and interviews with the private sector, there exists a significant level of dissatisfaction with the guidance and continued lack of uniformity in how sanctions are enforced. Thus, the article contends that the EU’s actorness continues to suffer the complications that result from its decentralized enforcement system and concludes that because even improved guidance will not resolve this issue, broader changes should be considered to bring about meaningful improvements in the EU’s enforcement environment and actorness.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

The Legal Relations of the European Union with the Principality of Andorra

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

This article examines the evolving legal relationship between the EU and the Principality of Andorra, the largest of Europe’s non-EU micro-states. Given its proximity to the EU, being fully surrounded by it, and the extent to which integration through law has occurred within the EU, the law and policy of EU external relations demands that EU-Andorran relations must exist in some way. Despite Andorra’s geographic proximity and shared values with the EU, its legal integration remains fragmented and sector-specific. As uncovered in this article through a detailed analysis of several international agreements between the EU and Andorra, there are some asymmetries in market access, regulatory alignment, the institutional framework, and dispute settlement. With an envisaged association agreement between the EU and Andorra on the horizon, this article analyses the legal relations of the parties as they presently stand, accounting for their history, the substance of the international agreements, and the promise of what future legal relations ought to achieve between them.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

Heritage Diplomacy at Times of War: Media Narratives and Strategic Communication of Ukraine and the EU in the ‘Global South’

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

This article introduces the Special Section EU-Ukraine Heritage Diplomacy: Media Narratives and Strategic Communication in the ‘Global South’. The section presents outcomes of a transnational research project that explores challenges and opportunities of EU-Ukraine heritage diplomacy during the ongoing war against Ukraine. As a specific direction of cultural diplomacy, heritage diplomacy and its securitization have acquired a sense of urgency for the EU. Contributing to this novel field and arguing the importance of attentive and systematic listening by the EU to its external partners, this Special section focuses on the analysis of narratives and frames of Ukraine’s cultural and historic heritage and the EU in leading media in the selected countries of the ‘Global South’ – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa. Our Introductory article outlines the place of the strategic communication perspective in heritage diplomacy by the EU and Ukraine. It details the ontology that guides the methodology of our multi-country comparative study and introduces five empirical cases featured in the Special section. We conclude with our arguments about the relevance and importance of the in-depth systematic research into narratives surrounding cultural and historic heritage in international relations. In a turbulent world, the securitization of cultural and historical heritage adds another layer of complexity to the international dialogue and collaboration, including that between the EU and Ukraine.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

The Value of Proximity: Boosting Heritage-Related Visibility of the EU and Ukraine in Brazilian News During Russia’s Invasion

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

As part of a larger study on the challenges and opportunities of the European Union’s heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, this article focuses on the content analysis of mainstream news in Brazil about Ukrainian cultural heritage after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It considers the coverage of two major newspapers in Brazil, O Globo and Folha de São Paulo - which together published fifty-six stories on the war and its impact on Ukrainian heritage - between February 2022 and July 2024. The study examines themes, topics and narratives present in the news articles. It also outlines the contexts in which the EU and its Member States appear in the news sample and offers recommendations to enhance their visibility in relation to cultural topics.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

‘Telling China’s Story Well’: China’s Media Narratives of Ukraine’s Cultural and Historic Heritage at Times of Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion and of the EU in This Context

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

This article examines how leading Chinese media narrate Ukraine’s cultural and historical heritage during Russia’s full-scale invasion, with particular attention to the role of the European Union (EU) and its Member States. A thirty-month sample reveals the relative invisibility of Ukraine’s heritage, which, when mentioned, is framed in sympathetic yet passive terms: Ukraine appears as a victimized repository of culture rather than an active political subject. Narratives avoid condemning Russia, instead emphasizing shared cultural loss in order to sustain China’s image as a neutral, morally superior observer. The EU is portrayed sporadically and depoliticized, with Member States highlighted individually rather than as a collective actor. By contrast, China is consistently cast as the confident, heroic facilitator of cultural dialogue and global heritage discourse. Ultimately, these framings serve the broader objective of ‘telling China’s story well’, reinforcing China’s self-presentation as a civilized, stable, and globally respected power.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

Actors, Actorness, and the Missing Bloc: Indian Media Narratives of Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage and the European Union

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

The article forms part of the transnational UKR-HER project on representation of Ukraine’s cultural and historical heritage in the Global South media. It analyses how leading Indian Englishlanguage newspapers, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, and The Telegraph portray Ukraine’s cultural and historical heritage in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. The article advances an innovative framework that integrates ontological security with media narrative analysis examining how media narratives both challenge and re-enforce India’s ontological security position that frames the war as either a European ‘problem’ or a proxy war between the West and Russia. The article suggests that cultural and historical heritage can be a profound marker of national agency and has implications for how the war is communicated to a foreign audience, in particular, the portrayals of Russia and Ukraine as two parties directly involved in the war, and the European Union as a key actor in the preservation of Ukraine’s cultural and historical heritage.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

The Flow of Sympathy to Ukraine through Art’: Indonesian Media Framing of Ukrainian Heritage amid the Russian War Against Ukraine

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

This article analyses Indonesian media framing of Ukrainian cultural heritage amid Russia’s 2022 invasion, contributing to a broader transnational comparative research project exploring Global South perceptions of European Union (EU)-Ukraine relations and the EU as a cultural diplomacy actor. Through content analysis of sixty-one articles from three major Indonesian outlets (Antara, Kompas, and Tempo) spanning February 2022 to July 2024, this study reveals how cultural heritage narratives offer alternative pathways for foreign affairs engagement beyond traditional geopolitical frameworks. The research shows that Indonesian media predominantly frames Ukrainian heritage through positive, sympathetic lenses rather than reducing the conflict to the US-Russia binary. This cultural framing positions Ukraine as compatible with Indonesia’s own values of heritage and non-aligned policy principles. However, despite the EU’s significant role in protecting Ukrainian cultural sites, European involvement receives minimal coverage. Indonesian media prefers to highlight individual Member State initiatives rather than coordinated EU institutional efforts. This represents a missed opportunity for EU cultural diplomacy in the country. The findings contribute new insights into how cultural heritage communication can reshape foreign affairs perceptions in Global South contexts. The study offers strategic recommendations for enhancing EU diplomatic engagement that resonate with Indonesian cultural values and bilateral partnership preferences.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299

Bridging the Silence: South Africa, the European Union and Ukraine’s Heritage

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:01:05 GMT

This article explores how Ukraine’s historical and cultural heritage, influenced by the current Russia-Ukraine war, is shaped, portrayed, and communicated in three leading South African newspapers. As part of a larger research project focused on cultural and historical heritage in Ukraine, the study highlights how the European Union and Ukraine engage with foreign publics. Within the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, this article focuses on the European Union and Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts within South Africa, and the ‘Global South’, in a changing world.

Volume 30 Online ISSN 1384-6299