Crucial guidance

In her foundational blog piece for this series, Veronica Anghel argued that the enlargement debate needs urgent reframing. As Anghel sees it, enlargement to East European countries is key to the EU’s capacity to adapt, survive, and thrive. The Putin regime’s multi-pronged attempt to subvert the project of building a free and democratic continent has drastically reshaped Eastern Europe. For more than a decade, Ukrainians have been the chief victims of Russia’s revisionist aggression.

The EU must reassess the pivotal roles East Europeans have played in the history of European integration

Anghel’s insights reveal the unprecedented relevance of Eastern Europe to the broader European project. The EU must pay close attention to the agency of East Europeans. Moreover, it must reassess the pivotal roles East Europeans have played in the history of European integration. Re-examining this history offers essential guidance for understanding and addressing the challenges of today.

A more capacious history

Dominant interpretations of European integration history often privilege Western Europe, reproducing Western-centric assumptions. This focus is understandable, given that the predecessors of today’s EU originated exclusively within Western Europe. Yet it obscures the profound East-West dynamics that have shaped postwar Europe.

Efforts to integrate Eastern Europe into contemporary narratives began in earnest after the Cold War. Since then, scholars have made progress to develop more inclusive and equitable perspectives. However, the predominant focus has remained on the 'Europeanisation of Eastern Europe', emphasising the EU's transformative power. Ukraine’s courageous bid to integrate into the European project amid Russia's brutal aggression shows just how urgent it is to develop a broader, more inclusive perspective on the history of our European present, reconceiving European integration as a shared, complex endeavour.

East Europeans’ roles

A recalibrated understanding of integration history highlights the strategic significance of Eastern Europe. Fierce competition with this Soviet-dominated region after the Second World War spurred West Europeans to develop welfare states and transnational economic integration. Similarly, East European rivals’ moderation — most notably Poland, Hungary, and the Soviet Union — brought the Cold War to an end, and led to deeper and wider integration.

During their post-Soviet transitions, East Europeans initially appeared eager students of the West. By the turn of this century, however, the region had become a testing ground for neoliberal reforms. At the same time, Eastern Europe developed into a driver of EU economic growth. Recent years have seen some East European governments, such as Hungary’s, adopt illiberal stances. This illiberal turn has prompted debate about upholding democracy and the rule of law within the EU.

By the early twenty-first century, Eastern Europe had become a testing ground for neoliberal reforms and a driver of EU economic growth

Fierce rivals who once provided the geopolitical impetus for West European integration; unexpected partners whose actions in the late 1980s and early 1990s profoundly reshaped the trajectory of European history and the integration project; eager students who, in the aftermath of the Cold War, exemplified Europe’s transformative potential; economic engines that, by the early twenty-first century, became drivers of neoliberal reforms across the continent; and internal challengers whose illiberal turns have compelled the EU to confront its own democratic vulnerabilities — these are just some of the defining roles through which East Europeans have shaped and continue to shape the evolving history of European integration.

Recalling the meaning of integration

What role do Eastern Europeans occupy in the unfolding Zeitenwende (turning point between eras)? Their most resolute representatives, particularly in Ukraine, present a clear and urgent vision: the beleaguered liberal international order demands not only significant reinvestment but also proactive efforts to create the conditions for a sustainable peace. They remind their fellow Europeans that the spectre of imperial ambition remains all too real. Fierce adversaries still lurk at Europe’s doorstep. Only a cohesive European project firmly anchored within a robust transatlantic alliance can offer credible defence.

East Europeans remind their fellow Europeans that the spectre of imperial ambition remains all too real

In this capacity, East Europeans have emerged as agents of historical memory. They bear witness to the lessons that Western Europe absorbed in the aftermath of the Second World War, but may now risk neglecting. Their steadfast commitment is a stark reminder: the costs of complacency are high, and the need for collective resilience remains as pressing as ever.

The historical parallel demands emphasis. The dedication to the European project and the unwavering commitment to NATO evident across much of Eastern Europe today closely mirror the spirit that animated Western Europe during the Cold War. Both stem from a shared recognition of existential threats — open subversion and strategic destabilisation driven by the Kremlin. Both confirm a profound truth, too: the survival of the European project depends not merely on shared interests, but on shared resolve.

Relaunching European integration

A compelling new approach to the study of European integration seeks to place it within the broader currents of contemporary European history. This article has adopted the same perspective to offer not merely an analysis of past developments but an interpretative framework for understanding our present. By tracing the diverse and evolving roles East Europeans have played in the history of European integration, my objective has been to show how they are now poised to assume an even more consequential role as agents of foundational memory. They must remind their fellow Europeans of the historical meaning and existential stakes underpinning the European project.

As Veronica Anghel argues, in a new age of geopolitical contestation and mass violence, enlargement has become an essential strategy for addressing the EU’s most urgent challenges and securing its future. It is a strategy that will also, in a quite literal sense, relaunch European integration.

No.7 in a Loop series on 🧭 EU enlargement dilemmas

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