The EU’s enlargement reality check
Jessica Hendrick takes over The Neighbourhood to unpack what the EU’s 2025 Enlargement Package reveals about both Brussels’s expectations and life inside the candidate countries
Experts & Staff
Engjellushe Morina
Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Euro-Atlantic integration; green agenda; Balkan politics and foreign policy; violent extremism; peacebuilding and conflict transformation, dialogue, and mediation
Languages
Albanian, English, Serbo-Croatian, German
Biography
Engjellushe Morina is a senior policy fellow with the European Security Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She works from ECFR’s Berlin office. Her work mainly addresses the geopolitics of EU Enlargement, Kosovo-Serbia relations, and the geopolitical aspects of the green agenda.
Morina brings many years of research experience on, and fieldwork in, the Balkans, Euro-Atlantic integration, peacebuilding and conflict transformation, violent extremism, and dialogue and mediation. Prior to joining ECFR, she developed and led collaborative research projects on violent extremism and managed other initiatives such as a 1.5 track dialogue in North Macedonia. During the high-level negotiations over Kosovo’s political status led by President Marti Ahtisaari, she served as an expert and consultant in the Cultural Heritage group within the Unity Team (2005-2007). Her work focused on the protection of cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo. Morina co-founded and ran the Pristina Council on Foreign Relations. She was the executive director of Kosovar Stability Initiative and worked for the US Embassy in Pristina. Morina has also conducted archeological fieldwork in Egypt, Italy, Albania, and the United Kingdom, and research fieldwork in Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan.
Morina holds degrees from University College London (Institute of Archaeology), Oxford University (Somerville College), and the Hertie School of Governance, in Berlin.
Stumbling blocs: Why the EU’s future security depends on successful enlargement
Europe needs to strengthen its collective security in the face of a more volatile US, Russia and China. The EU’s successful streamlining of its accession process would secure the wider neighbourhood—and its geopolitical future
Geopolitical greenery: How decarbonisation can speed the Western Balkans towards the EU
The EU should provide extra support to Western Balkan countries to boost the green transition—and ease future integration into the bloc
A double bind: How unrest and geopolitics could end Serbia’s government
Mass protests are destabilising Aleksandar Vucic’s rule and his “à la carte” foreign policy positioning. As Serbia’s president faces his toughest challenge yet, the EU should seize the moment to support democratic change and regional stability
Balka-Seltzer: How to avoid excess gas in the Western Balkans
The Western Balkans could enact a comprehensive energy transition straight from coal to renewables – but the region seems to be drifting towards greater use of gas. It is in both the EU’s and the Western Balkans’ interest to mitigate this trend
America first, Europe next: Trump will change dynamics in Western Balkan security
With US involvement waning, Europe faces a critical test in securing the Western Balkans. Renewed EU commitment could transform its neighbourhood and bolster its security
Cast no shadow: How the EU can advance the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process
As the European Union pushes for peace in the Western Balkans, it should focus on moving the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue beyond its current impasse to establish long-lasting regional stability and deter Russian influence
Finding friends: Europe, Serbia, and the lithium catalyst
A new EU agreement on lithium could improve aspects of governance in Serbia – if the bloc makes the most of this new partnership with Belgrade
Growing pains: The future of EU enlargement after the European Parliament election
With more right-wing MEPs in the next European Parliament, the EU’s enlargement plans may be in jeopardy unless the next commission president stands firm
6 May
Geopolitics of Enlargement: Ukraine Strategy
This webinar will discuss current revisions of the EU approach to enlargement policy and the security implications for Ukraine and the neighborhoods
Publications
Geopolitical greenery: How decarbonisation can speed the Western Balkans towards the EU
The EU should provide extra support to Western Balkan countries to boost the green transition—and ease future integration into the bloc
Balka-Seltzer: How to avoid excess gas in the Western Balkans
The Western Balkans could enact a comprehensive energy transition straight from coal to renewables – but the region seems to be drifting towards greater use of gas. It is in both the EU’s and the Western Balkans’ interest to mitigate this trend
Catch-27: The contradictory thinking about enlargement in the EU
A new power audit of member states’ positions on EU enlargement shows broad agreement that it is a geopolitical necessity, but major disagreements about how to prepare the EU. To make credible progress, EU member states need to agree on a roadmap that addresses their conflicting concerns at the European Council meeting in December
The politics of dialogue: How the EU can change the conversation in Kosovo and Serbia
A new agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is a welcome step – but the EU can transform the situation by setting out clearer accession prospects for both countries
The path to recognition: Kosovo’s and Serbia’s evolving dialogue
The solution to the dispute between Kosovo and Serbia should be to create a societal consensus on both sides of the border
Articles
Stumbling blocs: Why the EU’s future security depends on successful enlargement
Europe needs to strengthen its collective security in the face of a more volatile US, Russia and China. The EU’s successful streamlining of its accession process would secure the wider neighbourhood—and its geopolitical future
A double bind: How unrest and geopolitics could end Serbia’s government
Mass protests are destabilising Aleksandar Vucic’s rule and his “à la carte” foreign policy positioning. As Serbia’s president faces his toughest challenge yet, the EU should seize the moment to support democratic change and regional stability
America first, Europe next: Trump will change dynamics in Western Balkan security
With US involvement waning, Europe faces a critical test in securing the Western Balkans. Renewed EU commitment could transform its neighbourhood and bolster its security
Cast no shadow: How the EU can advance the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process
As the European Union pushes for peace in the Western Balkans, it should focus on moving the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue beyond its current impasse to establish long-lasting regional stability and deter Russian influence
Finding friends: Europe, Serbia, and the lithium catalyst
A new EU agreement on lithium could improve aspects of governance in Serbia – if the bloc makes the most of this new partnership with Belgrade
Growing pains: The future of EU enlargement after the European Parliament election
With more right-wing MEPs in the next European Parliament, the EU’s enlargement plans may be in jeopardy unless the next commission president stands firm
Letting Ukraine into the EU will reinforce, not undermine, Europe’s security
Many Europeans fail to realise that EU enlargement is the only way to counter Russia and China – but this week, leaders must act
Caught red handed: Why the EU and the US should not keep faith in Vucic
Serbia’s partial withdrawal of troops along the border with Kosovo should not be enough to quash fears of Serbian aggression, instead the EU and the US must reevaluate their relations with the country’s president
Violence in North Kosovo: How the EU and the US can break the cycle
Escalating violence in the north of Kosovo undermines the already difficult dialogue process. The EU and US need to address this destabilisation head on
Vision 2030: Four steps towards the new EU enlargement
It is time for the EU to burnish its foreign policy credentials by setting out concrete plans for the next round of enlargement
Podcasts
The EU’s enlargement reality check
Jessica Hendrick takes over The Neighbourhood to unpack what the EU’s 2025 Enlargement Package reveals about both Brussels’s expectations and life inside the candidate countries
Events
6 May
Geopolitics of Enlargement: Ukraine Strategy
This webinar will discuss current revisions of the EU approach to enlargement policy and the security implications for Ukraine and the neighborhoods
28 Oct
Kosovo-Serbia Relations: The Circle of (Dis)Trust and (Un)Equality /Belgrade Security Forum 2021/
After more than eleven years of the EU facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, this process could be described as “one step forward, two steps back”. The seriousness of challenges that constantly emerge in relations between Kosovo and Serbia shows that despite the goodwill and dedication of the Western stakeholders, domestic democratic capacities, nationalistic politics, geopolitics, and third players hinder the possibility of reaching a comprehensive solution
11 Dec
In the media
Engjellushe Morina on the US freezing the strategic dialogue with Kosovo
The green agenda for the western Balkans entails clear criteria which these countries will have to fulfill in order to fuel their transition to green economies and environmental protection
Engjellushe Morina on green transition in the western Balkans
Engjellushe Morina on the implementation of the “Green Agenda” in the Western Balkans
Engjellushe Morina on the ongoing protests in Serbia against President Aleksandar Vučić
Engjellushe Morina on Serbia and Vucic