Pacifism or Lethal Aid? Discourses on European Identity in EU Debate on the War in Ukraine

Abstract

The European Union’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a shift in the foreign policy of the EU, and the military aid to Ukraine is unprecedented in EU history. This master’s thesis explores how competing conceptualisations of European identity are discursively mobilised by European politicians to support or oppose the EU’s military aid to Ukraine. Employing a constructivist theoretical framework in conjunction with discourse analysis as understood by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, the study investigates the central role identity plays in shaping EU foreign policy. The analysis is based on textual material from two EU politicians, with one being for the EU’s military aid to Ukraine and the other against it. The study finds that the conceptualisation and mobilisation of European identity differs depending on the stances of the politician, and that chains-of-equivalence are mobilised to fixate the meaning of European identity, meaning that European identity is highly dynamic. Furthermore, this study finds that practices of “othering” are relevant for politicians when conceptualising European identity, meaning that European identity is conceptualised in relation to other actors, representing values lower in the value-hierarchy. Finally, this thesis contributes to academic knowledge regarding connections between identity, values, and foreign policy in relation to EU collective action in military affairs and security in the light of geopolitical instability and crisis.