EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE OF SHAPING THE SECURITY ENVIRONMENT AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN THE STATE POLICY OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article examines the problem of modernising Ukraine's national civil protection system under the conditions of full-scale armed aggression and the need to adapt state policy to European Union standards. The post-war transformations of the European security architecture, the intensification of hybrid threats, and the increasing frequency of climate-driven emergencies have exposed substantial gaps in the domestic security mechanism and have highlighted the need to reconsider its institutional, legal, and organisational foundations. The aim of the study is to analyse the contemporary experience of Eastern EU countries (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic) in shaping the security environment and to substantiate conceptual directions for implementing this experience in Ukraine's state policy in the field of public administration of civil protection. The main part of the work reveals the evolution of the concept of "comprehensive security" as the paradigmatic basis of the European model of response to contemporary challenges, analyses Poland's civil protection reform of 2024–2025, the total defence system of the Baltic states, the Czech integrated rescue system, as well as coordination mechanisms within the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of practices of civil society engagement, the development of protective shelter infrastructure, standards of population self-sufficiency, and strategic communication tools. Based on the results of the research, conclusions are formulated regarding priority directions for adapting European approaches to Ukrainian realities, in particular with respect to the consolidation of the normative and legal framework, the integration of civil-military coordination, the development of volunteer formations, and the enhancement of critical infrastructure resilience.