During the 20th century, the European continent has been through a process of important geopolitical and cultural change. Contacts between different forces not always led to a greater convergence. Persisting differences are reflected in the variety and intensity of the current relations between the European Union and its new neighbours, and the contacts established between these states that now share the border with the EU. The purpose of this article is to introduce those countries which border the European Union from the East, namely Ukraine and Moldova as well as regional and global problems this countries are facing in the wider context of geopolitics, security and stability. Attention is being drawn to the role which the EU is playing at present and might play in the future, in terms of the development of the aforementioned countries, which have declared their entry into the NATO and EU as a long-term objective.A lo largo del siglo XX se produjeron grandes cambios geopolíticos y culturales en el continente europeo. Las fuerzas intervinientes no dieron lugar, necesariamente, a una mayor convergencia. Las diferencias se reflejan en la variedad e intensidad de las relaciones que mantiene actualmente la Unión Europea (UE) con sus nuevos países vecinos, y de las relaciones entabladas entre dichos países. El propósito de este artículo es presentar los países de la frontera Este de la UE —Ucrania, y la R. Moldova con su problemática regional y global, vinculada a asuntos geopolíticos, de seguridad y estabilidad. Atenderemos al papel que tiene y debe tener la UE en el desarrollo de estos países que tienen como meta el ingreso a largo plazo en las estructuras euroatlánticas
