Speaking with one voice : The European Union’s path of changed actorness in the Eastern Partnership despite long term differences in foreign policy views of its Member States

Sammanfattning: This paper explores the actorness of the European Union (EU), and how it has developed within the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in the aftermath of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Through the theoretical lens derived from The Multiple Streams Framework, understanding is brought regarding intra-EU dynamics in relation to the union’s outer international context and geopolitical positioning. It is shown how the union’s relation to its soft- and hard power deployment has shifted, and how the inherent dualism within the union affects this shifted dynamic- where on one hand there has historically been fundamental discrepancies between the Member States regarding ideas on what kind of actor the union should be, but on the other hand the Member States convergence in collective policy output, despite the political equilibrium of the union being permeated by differing standpoints. This is analysed specifically in the nations of Moldova and Georgia, since the initiation of the EaP until late 2022.  The research question is posed accordingly; How has the security policy actorness of the European Union within the Eastern Partnership countries Moldova and Georgia changed since 2009? The study concludes that greater risk infers greater value acceptability, and therefore that in times of crisis, despite the otherwise differences between the EU camps, cohesion is reached in various areas of the security field; when value acceptability of common security policies outweighs that of their own self interests. This convergence enables a geopolitical awareness within the EU, where the power dimension shifts from mainly soft power mechanisms, to incorporating hard power elements. It is thus shown how EUs undertakings within the EaP assert the union as an actor with geopolitical influence in the security field, and its aim to take ground and strengthen its role as a security policy actor in the area between Russia and Europe.