Authors

Discussion

The study examines the external opportunity structures of the EU's eastern neighbours during times of high security threat. The research investigates when and to what extent opportunities in the neighbourhood affect EU engagement and shape policy-frame alignment. The study introduces the concept of an "immediate" opportunity structure and concludes that the EU's decisions to initiate or alter policy frames towards countries in the Eastern neighbourhood are driven by immediate security-related opportunity structures that exist at the moment of decision-making. Furthermore, the EU's decision to engage depends on whether the security threat in the region and the neighbourhood directly affects the Union's security architecture. As the political environment in the neighborhood becomes more open and concessions increase, the EU boosts its engagement, reflected in policy alignment. The research claims that the EU strategy prioritizes immediate opportunity structures because focusing on immediate opportunities aims to address and create long-term opportunity structures.