War in Ukraine Tips Power Balance Inside EU

War in Ukraine Tips Power Balance Inside EU

KYIV, Ukraine—When Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and intervened in the country’s east, France and Germany led Europe’s response and officials in Brussels played a side role. Today the positions have flipped, placing the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, in a central leadership role. The EU’s new muscle was evident Thursday when commission President Ursula von der Leyen brought 15 EU commissioners to Kyiv.