Ukraine: European Policy Institute launched in Kyiv with EU support

A new foreign policy think tank – the European Policy Institute in Kyiv (EPIK) – was officially launched on 31 March at an inaugural ceremony and panel discussion. Based in Kyiv, the institute will bring together European and Ukrainian policy experts to work on the most acute issues facing Ukraine and Europe today.

Established by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) through the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS), EPIK operates as an independent European think tank. It is co-funded by the European Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

The Institute will provide policy-makers with rigorous analysis, strategic insight, and forward-leaning policy ideas on Ukraine’s EU integration and European security. More concretely, EPIK’s analysis will focus on the following areas: European security and defence, Ukraine’s EU accession and related reforms, geopolitics in the European context, post-war reconstruction, and economic development. 

The inaugural event brought together decision-makers, diplomats, experts, civil society representatives and journalists to discuss Ukraine’s path to EU membership at the intersection of war, reform, and geopolitics. 

“Now more than ever, it is clear that Ukraine’s EU accession is not only about Ukraine’s future. It is a defining test of Europe’s ability to ensure its own security,” said Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine. 

European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius spoke about the role EPIK could play in strengthening Europe’s intellectual defence readiness.

“Ukraine is a master of drones. A master of missile and air defence. A master of defence innovation. This excellence is recognised by the world. Ukraine has learned these lessons by paying a very high price on the battlefield. So we have a duty to learn from Ukraine. And now, thanks to EPIK, Ukraine will also become a master in thinking about European security, defence and foreign policy,” the Commissioner said.

Fredrik Wesslau, a Distinguished Policy Fellow at SCEEUS, has been appointed director of EPIK. Fredrik Wesslau has previously worked for the UN, EU, and OSCE in Kosovo, South Caucasus, and Sudan/South Sudan, as well as on counter-piracy off the Horn of Africa. Until December 2022, he worked in Kyiv as Deputy Head of the EU Advisory Mission in Ukraine. Fredrik has also worked as Director of the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). 

Find out more

Press release

Opening speech by Commissioner Kubilius at the inauguration of the European Policy Institute in Kyiv (EPIK)