Piotr Buras, Marie Dumoulin, Tefta Kelmendi, Marlene Marx
Policy Brief
With EU enlargement back on the agenda, democracy promotion in candidate countries is a key geopolitical interest for the bloc. The EU’s previous efforts to promote democracy in the Western Balkans and eastern neighbourhood may hold valuable lessons for the years ahead
The EU’s green agenda is threatened by a predicted surge to the far-right in the upcoming European Parliament election. Against this, mainstream candidates should remind voters that climate policy is not only necessary for decarbonisation, but an essential tool for EU enlargement
That EU enlargement is a geopolitical imperative is no longer in doubt. But to make enlargement happen, the EU may need to decouple bilateral disputes from the accession process
Norway House, Rue Archimède 17, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Russia’s war against Ukraine has radically altered European security. Confronted by the direst security crisis in decades, EU policymakers are forced to fundamentally rethink their…
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
Rose Garden Palace, Via Boncompagni 19 - 00187 Roma
ECFR Rome
Secondo appuntamento di una serie di tre working lunch realizzati congiuntamente da ECFR Roma, SDA Bocconi e l’Institute for European Policymaking @ Bocconi University
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
With Russia’s war on Ukraine raging on its eastern border, EU enlargement in the Western Balkans has a new geopolitical urgency. The EU must commit to supporting their accession – and a fixed date like 2030 alongside a staged approach will add credibility to this commitment
The still-incomplete web of allies and institutions that the EU has woven in the Balkans in the last 30 years is not only strong but also valuable to its geopolitical struggle against Russia
Piotr Buras, Marie Dumoulin, Tefta Kelmendi, Marlene Marx
Policy Brief
With EU enlargement back on the agenda, democracy promotion in candidate countries is a key geopolitical interest for the bloc. The EU’s previous efforts to promote democracy in the Western Balkans and eastern neighbourhood may hold valuable lessons for the years ahead
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 EU’s green agenda is threatened by a predicted surge to the far-right in the upcoming European Parliament election. Against this, mainstream candidates should remind voters that climate policy is not only necessary for decarbonisation, but an essential tool for EU enlargement
That EU enlargement is a geopolitical imperative is no longer in doubt. But to make enlargement happen, the EU may need to decouple bilateral disputes from the accession process
With Russia’s war on Ukraine raging on its eastern border, EU enlargement in the Western Balkans has a new geopolitical urgency. The EU must commit to supporting their accession – and a fixed date like 2030 alongside a staged approach will add credibility to this commitment
The still-incomplete web of allies and institutions that the EU has woven in the Balkans in the last 30 years is not only strong but also valuable to its geopolitical struggle against Russia
The emerging ‘traffic-light’ coalition government should recognise the dangers ranged around the EU on its Western Balkans borders – and help move EU integration along for the region’s states
Germany insisted on its choice of new high representative. Now it needs to reveal if it has a plan to make the Bosnian state workable enough for the high representative institution to finally end
Only a firm framework of integration can bring long-term stability to the Balkans – this is as relevant today as it was in 2003, when EU leaders offered membership to all countries in the region
Following a recent dispute over a $1 billion loan to Montenegro, the EU has an opportunity to take a more systematic approach to the growing Chinese presence in the Western Balkans
North Macedonia and Albania wanted to start negotiations with the EU after having been candidate countries since 2005 and 2014. But the enlargement plans seemed…
Mark Leonard talks with the director of ECFR's office in Sofia, Vessela Tcherneva and the director of ECFR's Wider Europe programme, Fredrik Wesslau about the…
Francisco de Borja Lasheras, director de la oficina de ECFR Madrid, entrevista a Andreja Stojkovski, presidente del Macedonian Centre for European Traininng, en Skopje, Macedonia
Norway House, Rue Archimède 17, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Russia’s war against Ukraine has radically altered European security. Confronted by the direst security crisis in decades, EU policymakers are forced to fundamentally rethink their…
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
Rose Garden Palace, Via Boncompagni 19 - 00187 Roma
ECFR Rome
Secondo appuntamento di una serie di tre working lunch realizzati congiuntamente da ECFR Roma, SDA Bocconi e l’Institute for European Policymaking @ Bocconi University
Teresa Coratella on the impact of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary’s rotating presidency of the EU Council
It is crucial to use the current momentum and to decide to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina at the European Council later this week
Karoline Edtstadler says the EU must keep its promises
The credible enlargement process is the best answer to any third-party’s interference. It would be economically insane [for European countries] to look elsewhere
Miroslav Lajčák comments on Moscow’s and Beijing’s interference in the Western Balkans
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