The December 2022 edition of the IRMO Brief, authored by Željko Trkanjec, deals with the changes that have occurred in the EU during the recent crises. The 2008 financial crisis had a long negative impact on the EU and the euro zone, and the response in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was slow and uncoordinated. However, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU’s reaction was united and resolute. This indicates that the Union is capable of learning on its mistakes, and that the member states can find a common denominator when faced with a common security threat. Today, EU is undoubtedly the global leader in protection of human rights and democracy and the best example of state association in history. The author also analyses how the growing protectionism in the US and Chinese expansionism will affect EU’s ambitions to become a global player.
Željko Trkanjec is a Foreign Policy columnist for Croatian national daily newspaper Jutarnji List of Hanza Media based in Zagreb, Croatia.
