Articles by Magdalena König

April 28, 2025

🧭 Why the 'eternal waiting room' is a risky strategy for EU enlargement

Magdalena König

Enlargement’s symbolic revival after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine risks repeating past failures. Magdalena König warns that without credible timelines and reform momentum, the EU may trap candidates — old and new — in an ‘eternal waiting room’. Frustration, backsliding, and geopolitical drift are likely unless promises are matched by progress

Magdalena König

Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

Magdalena's research interests include the role of civil society in EU policy processes, and EU enlargement, in particular the ongoing enlargement to South East Europe.

She is also interested in critical perspectives on international counter-terrorism politics, and the politics of prevention of radicalisation.

Before joining the Max Planck Institute in 2024, she was a PhD researcher at the Centre for International Relations Research at the University of Groningen.

Her PhD research examined the role of preventive approaches to counter-terrorism within the ongoing EU enlargement towards South East Europe.

Magdalena holds a BA in European Studies from Maastricht University and an MA in Peace Research from the University of Tübingen.

She has published on the role of preventive counter-terrorism in EU enlargement to South East Europe and on border data management systems in the EU.

@koenigmc.bsky.social

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