ETHICAL ASPECTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION'S FOREIGN POLICY (1999-2014) IN THE CONTEMPORARY ACADEMIC DISCOURSE

Abstract

The Ukrainian society's current expectations of the international community's effective reaction to violations of international law by the Russian Federation in the Crimea and on the Donbass, and the declared aspiration of Ukraine to pursue membership in the European Union, determine the relevance of this article, which is devoted to the ethical aspects of the contemporary foreign policy of the European Union. The paper aims to highlight the ethical component of the foreign policy conduct of this supranational association in 1999-2014 through the prism of contemporary foreign academic debates on these issues, describes the current trends and interpretations, generalizes the main directions of the debate and their possible consequences. Keywords: foreign policy; the European Union; values; ethics; international relations; soft power.