What Went Wrong and What Right for the EU in Ukraine?

The severe crisis and consequent conflict and even war in and over Ukraine have resulted in severe soulsearching in key Western actors and institutions, the European Union (EU) included. This is hardly a surprise that the collapse of Yanukovych and the events that followed took by and large the whole Western scholarly and diplomatic community by surprise. By annexing the Crimean peninsula and incorporating it swiftly into its federal structure Russia has not only shown its acute displeasure with how things have been developing in Ukraine and Eastern Europe but has also thrown down the gauntlet, essentially questioning and consequently challenging the very foundations of European (security) order and indeed international law