The Future for Europe’s neutrals in the EU’s Security and Defence Architecture

Over the last 25 years, the EU has developed an increasingly complex security and defence architecture. Through formal institutions such as the EU Military Staff, the Political and Security Committee, and the EEAS and significant cooperative fora such as the EDA, PESCO and the EU Battlegroups, the EU plays a significant role as a catalyst in shaping the security agenda of the member states as well as that of other security institutions in the region. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was a further catalyst for innovative reform and action. Two formerly neutral states, Sweden and Finland opted to join NATO; Denmark, a long standing hold out on CSDP ended its opt out from this area of EU policy. While there has been significant work examining the role of states such Hungary and Slovakia in hindering an effective collective EU response to Russian aggression less attention has been paid to the remaining neutrals – Ireland, Austria and Malta. This paper seeks to fill that gap by examining how each of these countries has adapted to the post-invasion EU security architecture and to understand the extent to which they’re non-engagement with collective defence weakens Europe’s security.