Does rhetoric matter? Narratives of the Visegrad Group and Baltic States' leaders on Ukraine's accession to the EU

Abstract

The main purpose of the article is to analyse the issue of Ukraine's accession to the European Union in the political discourse of the Visegrad Group and Baltic states' leaders and its impact on the transformation of the EU foreign policy agenda. Based on the analysis of selected speeches delivered by heads of states and governments of the above-mentioned countries, the authors focus on explaining their vision on the need to reform the EU's foreign policy in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Particular attention is paid to the issue of future EU enlargement in the context of Ukraine's potential accession. Furthermore, the research concentrates on the reflection of the proposed vision in the official position of the EU institutions. By doing so, an attempt is made so as to answer the research question on the transformational potential of Central European and Baltic states' leaders in the decision- making process on the EU foreign policy reform.

Keywords

• ukraine
• european union
• visegrad group
• baltic states
• political discourse