Legitimising the Unprecedented: An In-Depth Analysis of the EU Institutional Discourse on the Military Aid to Ukraine

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 compelled the European Union (EU) to take the unprecedented step of providing coordinated military aid to Ukraine. This article explores the intriguing, yet under-researched question of how this major policy transformation was discursively legitimised in the EU’s official communication. Theoretically drawing on Van Leeuwen’s (2007) framework of legitimation and methodologically combining qualitative content analysis with critical discourse analysis, it examines posts published on X (Twitter) between 2022 and 2024 by eight EU institutions and representatives. The findings reveal a complex pattern of discursive coherence achieved through a division of labour across the actors. While all actors relied on legitimation strategies of moral evaluation, authorisation, and rationalisation, they did so through distinct yet complementary registers, ranging from institutional consensus and strategic resolve to moral duty, emotional urgency, and the Union’s normative vocation.