The European Union has long been portrayed as a normative actor built on universal principles of human rights and peace. Nevertheless, the EU’s different responses to the 2015 Mediterranean refugee crisis and the 2022 Ukrainian displacement reveal that these values are often conditional. Drawing on insights from moral psychology and European governance, this study comparatively analyses the mechanisms behind these contrasting reactions. While the 2015 crisis was characterized by fragmentation, border securitisation and institutional divergencies; the 2022 Ukrainian conflict generated unprecedent unity, reception policies, and the historic first activation of the Temporary Protection Directive. This research argues that this imbalance cannot be solely explained by legal or institutional frameworks, but rather include deeper moral boundaries, geopolitical interests, and processes of “Othering”. By adopting this approach, the paper argues that European solidarity is largely selective and conditional depending on ethnic and cultural proximity, a fact that challenges the EU’s universal principles and puts its lasting stability at risk.