The transformation of the foreign policy of EU as a center of a polycentric world during the Ukrainian crisis

The article examines the principles and directions of EU foreign policy, which have become particularly important in connection with the events of the so-called Ukrainian crisis. The purpose of this study is to identify the features that most clearly manifested themselves in European foreign policy during these events. The author of the article uses structural-realistic approach. The article draws following conclusions. Firstly, it emphasizes the high degree of homogeneity of the collective West. Secondly, it is important that the EU simultaneously seeks to use the traditional 'pillar' of its security in the form of NATO and to lay the foundations for its future greater strategic independence. The next important conclusion of the study is that the EU seeks to consolidate its structural role in the collective West as a pillar of soft power, while strengthening its «hard» potential, and through this combination of roles, to participate with the United States in influencing the dynamics of «soft multipolarity» of the world order, deepening its activity in promoting European norms outward. Finally, a significant topic is the change in the nature of the export of EU norms outward: the EU has to streamline and structure these exports in order to guarantee future development until its own «hard» structural transformation is secured.