In a report adopted on 28 January, the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) frames EU enlargement as a strategic investment in the Union’s security and stability, warning that delaying enlargement risks creating geopolitical grey zones vulnerable to malign influence. The cost of non-enlargement would exceed the cost of accession. The report reaffirms that enlargement must remain strictly merit-based, with no shortcuts on EU values, and calls for stronger monitoring of reform implementation under the Fundamentals cluster, reinforced support for pro-EU, democracy-oriented civil society, adequate pre-accession funding under the new Multiannual Financial Framework, and deeper cooperation on infrastructure, security, resilience, and countering foreign information manipulation. BCSDN will continue to monitor these developments and amplify civil society perspectives from the Western Balkans in EU enlargement debates. Read more here.
Source and photo credits: European Western Balkans
