New EU strategy for enlargement

Although European integration of the Western Balkans and Türkiye is still at a standstill, the war in Ukraine and the challenging geopolitical environment have lent new impetus to the enlargement process, in an attempt to secure its continuity, consistency, credibility and impact. In June 2022, EU leaders endorsed the 'European perspective' of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The Western Balkan countries' prospect of a European future had meanwhile already been endorsed at summits in Thessaloniki (in 2003) and, more recently, in Sofia (2018), Zagreb (2020), Brdo (2021) and Brussels (2022). The European Parliament is expected to debate a report on the new EU strategy for enlargement during its November 2022 plenary session.