European Integration in a Time of War: Can the EU Gear Up to Face Unprecedented Internal and External Challenges?

In this chapter, the authors explore how Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has acted as a trigger for a future EU enlargement and how the Union and its member states have taken an inevitable responsibility for future peace and development in Europe. The chapter provides the historical context of EU enlargement, focusing particularly on the 2004 and 2007 Eastern enlargement, which prompted significant discussions about the deepening and widening of the EU. The authors address several challenges the EU faces during the forthcoming enlargement, including the political and economic readiness of the candidate countries, the turbulent geopolitical environment, as well as concerns about the EU’s internal cohesion and its capacity to integrate new members without compromising the Union’s effectiveness. The chapter concludes by outlining the subsequent chapters of the book which, from various perspectives, examine the depth and size of the European Union in a time of war.