October 6 – Faculty of Law – Manon Cormier room


Organized by Caroline Dufy and Hugo Flavier as part of the MSH Bordeaux 2022 Project Regional destructuring and recompositions in the East of the European Union: borders, territorial ambitions and mental maps (DESRUEE)


Regional dynamics within and across Europe's eastern borders have undergone a succession of revolutionary transformations since the invasion of Ukraine. These transformations range from increasingly overt support for the Ukrainian war effort, to decoupling from the Russian economy, to an unprecedented push for the expansion of the European Union's security architecture. The influx of millions of Ukrainian exiles into Eastern Europe also and simultaneously triggered the de facto transformation of their disdain for immigration, while the EC and member states formally agreed to accelerate the opening of negotiations for full membership of Ukraine and Moldova. The war in Ukraine represents in this respect a particular set of challenges for (de)border processes in the EU and their conceptualization. In contrast, but closely related, Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine combined an unyielding disregard for international law with a commitment to models of regional integration that, while formally aspiring to be the nemesis of EU, remain evocative of the governance and mental maps associated with coercive integration (focused on centers and rays) practiced within the colonial federations or, more specifically, within the Russian Empire and, subsequently, of the Soviet Union.

Regional dynamics within and across the Eastern borders of Europe have undergone a succession of path-breaking transformations since the invasion of Ukraine. These range from increasingly overt support to the Ukrainian war effort to decouple from the Russian economy and an unprecedented boost to the expansion of the European Union's security architecture. The inflow of millions of Ukrainian exiles into Eastern Europe has also and simultaneously triggered the de facto transformation of their disregard for immigration, while the EC and member-states have formally agreed to fast-track the opening of negotiations towards a full membership of Ukraine and Moldova. The war in Ukraine represents in this respect a particular set of challenges to processes of (de)bordering in the EU and their conceptualization. By contrast, yet closely related, Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has combined unyielding disregard for international law, with commitment to patterns of regional integration that, while formally aspiring to be the nemesis of the EU, remain evocative of the governance and mental maps associated with the coercive (hub and spoke driven) integration practiced within colonial federations or, more specifically, within the Russian empire and, subsequently, the Soviet Union.


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