| Abstract [eng] |
The research suggested to look at the relationship between EU institutionalization, identity structures and (in)security from an original and relatively new in international relations ontological security perspective. The assumptions of ontological security theory are applied to explain the latest and one of the most controversial EU’s CSDP instrument – European Peace Facility, which was adopted in the end of the year 2020 with the aim to provide financial resources not only military training to partners anywhere in the world but also will allow the EU to support the armed forces of partner countries with infrastructure, equipment training and for the first time in EU history with the delivery of lethal weapons. This aspect of the European Peace Facility caused the most controversy, asking to avoid investing in militarized methods prone to failure and risk. This research is build on the idea that the delivery of lethal weapons is a conflicting practice and in considered paradoxical given the long – standing EU narrative as anti-geopolitical actor based on normative or civilian power and as a peace project where dialogue-based conflict resolution model has long prevailed. It has been argued that the EU has been criticized for its naïve idealism and failure to respond effectively to emerging threats in recent years and in under pressure to become more geopolitical in the context of various internal and external crises, called as the “new Cold War”. However, this research notes that, paradoxically, the EU’s actions in recent years show EU to be a geopolitical actor with geopolitical visions to be a security provider. The research was based on the assumption that the relationship between these geopolitical visions and the ontological sense is important as challenges for the former may lead to a sense of ontological insecurity for the former, which requires actions to restore. It is concluded that the adoption of European Peace Facility can be considered as the EU’s response to ontological security concerns. European Peace Facility is proposed to be interpreted as meaning that its adoption was driven by the main impetus for the EU to maintain a sense of identity as a security provider in its relations with Others, where challenges have recently become a source of ontological concern. Sensitivity to ontological security dynamics can explain the return of obvious traditional geopolitical scenarios associated with the narrative of the “new Cold War”. |
