A Geopolitical Necessity? The Rhetoric around EU Enlargement

September 26 | Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén
Thursday
26
September
2024
6:00 pm
7:30 pm
Une nécessité géopolitique ? La rhétorique autour de l'élargissement de l'UE

Presentation of a research project as part of the "Jeudis de la Maison Suger", a residents' research seminar.

Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén is associate professor in politics and international relations at the University of Westminster. She teaches European Union studies and her main research interests are in the areas of European Union external relations, European Union governance and international negotiations. M. Frennhoff Larsén is a regular media commentator, and she has worked with media outlets including the BBC, Deutsche Welle, France 24, Huffington Post, Open Democracy, PMP Magazine, Social Europe, The Conversation, and the UK in a Changing Europe. She holds a PhD from the University of Westminster. Prior to moving into academia, she worked as Development Director for the Institutor for Citizenship and as Public Affairs Officer for the UK Office of the European Parliament.

Presentation of the project

"The war in Ukraine has triggered a renewed commitment to enlargement by the EU. In addition to providing Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia with candidate status with unprecedented speed, EU leaders have called for an acceleration of the enlargement process to the Western Balkans. The war has highlighted the geo-political and strategic importance of the region to the EU, and after almost two decades of stagnation, enlargement is back on the EU’s political agenda.

Based on document analysis and semi-structured interviews with policymakers involved in the enlargement process, this paper explores how the rhetoric around enlargement has shifted in the EU. While economic, political, and moral arguments dominated in previous enlargement rounds, enlargement is increasingly seen as a strategic way of responding to the war in Ukraine and addressing the shifting global geopolitical balance. The focus is no longer solely on the impact of enlargement on the EU and the candidate countries, but also on the place and influence of the EU in the neighbourhood and beyond. The paper argues that this geopolitical rhetoric is making it harder for the EU and its member states to oppose enlargement."

Speaker

 Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén, associate professor in politics and international relations at the University of Westminster

Published at 24 June 2024