Invitation: EU enlargement during the coronavirus crisis: Opportunities and threats

The speakers will be:

• Vladimír Bilčík, MEP, Slovakia, EPP
• Jana Juzová, Research Fellow, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy
• Tomasz Zornaczuk, Head of Central Europe Dept. and Senior Research Fellow on Western Balkans, Polish Institute of International Affairs

The event will be moderated by Tomáš Strážay, Director, Slovak Foreign Policy Association.

The recent decision of the European Council to open the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia together with the new methodology for accession has provided an important impetus for reviving the EU enlargement process. However, it can be expected that the current coronavirus pandemic will eventually impact all EU policies, including the enlargement. While the crisis once again showed the need for closer cooperation between EU and Western Balkan countries and importance of the EU’s support, the actions and rhetoric of some countries of the region raise questions about their future foreign policy orientation, as well as their viability as candidate countries.

Will the coronavirus pandemic and the following economic crisis result into closer ties between EU and the Western Balkans? Or will the strengthening of nationalism and cooperation with other global powers lead to disruptions on the countries’ EU paths? Can the newly gained momentum in the EU enlargement be sustained or will the post-coronavirus crisis drive EU’s attention away from the Balkans? And how will the measures adopted during the state of emergency influence the region’s compliance with EU’s requirements related to democracy and rule of law?

The event will take place via Zoom and will be streamed on our Facebook.