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Western Balkans

May 21, 2025

🧭 The risks of wartime politicisation of enlargement 

Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine forced the EU to revive its enlargement agenda, but growing politicisation risks sidelining the Western Balkans yet again. Miruna Butnaru Troncotă argues that the EU's future credibility and cohesion hinge on treating Western Balkan integration just as urgently as Eastern enlargement Read more
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 Read more
February 28, 2025

🧭 EU enlargement is about narratives, not just policy

Milica Uvalić The EU and the Western Balkan countries view enlargement differently. Milica Uvalić argues that despite renewed EU engagement since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, misperceptions persist, hindering Western Balkan countries’ accession. Bridging these misunderstandings is crucial to revitalising the process and aligning expectations for a shared European future Read more
February 5, 2025

🧭 Differentiated democratic enlargement to sharpen EU accession process

Richard Youngs EU enlargement is often hailed as a tool for spurring political reform and countering Russian influence. But Richard Youngs argues that its democratic dimensions are more complex than conventional wisdom suggests. He proposes the concept of differentiated democratic enlargement to address varied pre-accession dynamics and refine EU strategies Read more
January 21, 2025

🧭 EU enlargement: process first, outcome second

Jelena Džankić The EU enlargement process successfully transformed Southern and Eastern European states into market democracies, but faltered in the Western Balkans. Jelena Džankić argues that amid today’s geopolitical challenges, prioritising the transformative mechanisms of EU enlargement is more critical than focusing solely on achieving full membership Read more
January 13, 2025

🧭 The EU needs enlargement, but it may not get there

Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré EU enlargement could address collective action problems and stabilise its neighbourhood, but stalled accession processes may make full membership unlikely. Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré and Matteo Bonomi suggest that partial integration — engaging candidate countries in EU policies without membership — will remain the EU's main strategy for managing internal and regional crises Read more
September 16, 2024

Does Hungary still belong in the European Union?

Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa and James F. Downes argue that the EU faces a dilemma: should it pursue continued enlargement, or contract its membership by removing troublesome member state Hungary? Reaching a decision involves a complex trade-off between the need to increase EU influence and to maintain a unified, cohesive membership. Read more
May 7, 2024

The key question for the EU is not whether to enlarge, but how best to do so

Veronica Anghel Veronica Anghel and Erik Jones redefine the EU as a (selective membership) system of common resource pools, arguing this is the only way to understand its transformation under the pressure to enlarge. Enlargement means less exclusivity, so the key is to understand how the ‘goods’ that it provides are affected Read more

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