Ukraine and Europe: reshuffling the boundaries of order

This article applies the concept of the boundary of order to examine the multi-faceted and complex relations between the EU and Ukraine. The focus is on geopolitical, institutional/legal and cultural boundaries in order to conceptualise the EU’s reluctant engagement in Ukraine. Notwithstanding the EU’s refusal to offer Ukraine membership, it softened the legal boundary to placate Ukraine’s demand for inclusion. The cultural boundary has become blurred through references to Europe as a discursive benchmark of ‘normality’ in Ukraine, and Ukraine’s Europeanness as evidenced in its support for so-called European values. Overall, it is argued that different boundaries are subject to conflicting dynamics and that Russia has, inadvertently, contributed to changes to the boundaries between the EU and Ukraine.