FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Enlargement will be EU’s response to geopolitical challenges, commissioner says

Enlargement will be EU’s response to geopolitical challenges, commissioner says

European Union enlargement “will be an important part of our answer” to the new geopolitical challenges faced by the bloc, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has told the Third Delphi Brussels Forum, taking place in Brussels and organized by the Delphi Economic Forum in collaboration with Kathimerini English Edition.

“It is not happening in isolation. If we want to restore peace on our continent, protect our freedoms and ensure prosperity for all Europeans, we need a bigger and stronger union,” Kos said in her opening statement to a panel titled “Navigating the European Union’s Enlargement and its Repercussions for the Neighborhood.”

The EU was now engaged in an enlargement agenda “not seen since the early 2000s,” she added, noting the current Polish six-month presidency of the EU could see ten intergovernmental conferences related to enlargement.

“This [will be] more in a half a year than in the last ten years,” Kos, a Slovenian diplomat and politician, said.

The fact that “for the first time in a decade, we have the chance to bring one or more enlargement [candidates] to the finish line during this mandate” was a cause of optimism, she added.

With so many “stars aligning in favor of enlargement,” she said it would be “unimaginable” for the EU not to be successful in this effort.

The commissioner warned, however, that candidate countries could not avail of a “political discount” on the basis of geopolitical issues to gain entry to the bloc.

Accession was a “merit-based process” and successful candidates had to respect the rule of law and demonstrate that they share the EU’s values and geopolitical principles. At the same, the EU must match the efforts of candidate countries with “avenues of gradual integration into the single market.”

Kos also pointed out that the EU need to ensure it is capable of accommodating “30 plus members.” Were Iceland to return to the accession process or Armenia decided it wanted to join, “we have to be ready,” the commissioner said.

In response to a question from Tom Ellis, Kathimerini English Edition’s editor-in-chief, regarding the Western Balkans, which applied for EU membership 20 years ago, and whether Ukraine and Moldova might become more of a priority for the EU, Kos warned that what matters is not how long a country has been waiting, but what “a country is delivering and willing to do.”

“If Ukraine would have to wait to enter the EU for as long as [North] Macedonia is today, then Ukraine would join in 2045, and this is not an option,” she said.

“We are working on Ukraine two to three times quicker and around 1,000 people are working on it. We can do this quicker because they are delivering quicker.”

“I would be the happiest person in the world if we could finally start talking to Bosnia … but they are not delivering what they should be delivering.”

She noted, however, that Albania and Montenegro are now among the frontrunners in the accession process.

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