How to convince the European public to enlarge the EU

This event will discuss new polling data of six key EU member states in the enlargement debate (Germany, France, Denmark, Austria, Poland, Romania) and reveal what voters think about the geopolitical imperative of EU enlargement

– , Berlin time (CET, UTC+1)
Online
YouTube

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Guests

  • Lykke Friis, Director, Tænkentanken Europa
  • Engjellushe Morina, Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR
  • Bujar Osmani, Foreign Minister, North Macedonia 

Chaired by

Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director, Head of Sofia Office, ECFR

Two days before the European Council will decide whether to open accession talks with Moldova and Ukraine, ECFR is delighted to invite you to the webinar How to convince the European public to enlarge the EU.  

This event will discuss new polling data of six key EU member states in the enlargement debate (Germany, France, Denmark, Austria, Poland, Romania) and reveal what voters think about the geopolitical imperative of EU enlargement. This public opinion perspective on enlargement complements the recent ECFR publication Catch-27: The contradictory thinking about enlargement in the EU which provides a detailed analysis on the 27 EU governments’ positions on the same topic. 

Despite a divide in public opinion on enlargement, voters in respective countries support Ukraine joining the EU, whilst about a third remains neutral on the topic. Against this backdrop, this webinar aims to show how policy makers can secure public support for enlargement to all candidate countries, including the Western Balkans, and why convincing particularly indifferent voters remains crucial.  

Lykke Friis will share views from Copenhagen, and North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani will provide an external perspective on what the European public debate on enlargement means for candidate countries like, North Macedonia. Ultimately, the discussion aims to highlight why the European Council should decide to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova on the 15 December.