Geopolitical Challenges of the Energy (in)Security of European Union

The war in Ukraine has accelerated geopolitical polarization and geostrategic regrouping, as well as the creation of new geoeconomic arrangements in the international system. The West has taken a collective position in condemning Russian aggression, imposing sanctions on the Russian Federation and providing assistance to Ukraine. On the other hand, the strategic competition between China and the United States is gradually taking the form of a new Cold War.
These processes have directly spilled over into the energy sector, particularly in Europe, where the process of the European Union’s energy “de-Russification” has accelerated. The Union is seeking to free itself from dependence on imports of Russian energy products as quickly as possible, while simultaneously accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources. In doing so, it has introduced a series of comprehensive measures to protect its net-zero industry from increasingly fierce competition and to raise the level of its strategic autonomy.
The paper proceeds from the hypothetical assumption that the global geopolitical recomposition currently under way has also initiated the process of creating a new “energy regime”, that is, changes in relations among the great powers concerning control over key energy resources.
Therefore, the analysis of the geopolitical challenges facing the European Union is based on the postulates of classical geopolitical thought, in which power relations are considered from the perspective of politics, geography and energy products / critical raw materials.
The energy “de-Russification” of Europe has generated a series of geopolitical challenges for the energy security of the European Union and its member states. The long-term rise in energy prices seriously threatens the competitiveness and economic growth of the European Union economy and the standard of living of its population, and it has increased the Union’s vulnerability to disruptions on the global energy market. At the same time, the acceleration of the European Union’s energy transition has created the problem of strategic autonomy in the production and development of key industrial components for harnessing solar and wind energy.