The EU's enlargement dilemma

Anunita Chandrasekar of the Centre for European Reform (CER), said that she agreed with the view that the promise of enlargement to the Western Balkans was not kept, "led to disappointment", and noted that the change in enlargement policies in the Union was due to security concerns after the start of the war in Ukraine.

In this regard, Chandrasekar said that the EU's decision to grant the status of candidate countries to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova and start accession negotiations more quickly than ever before has caused a negative atmosphere among other candidate countries that have been waiting for years to reach this stage.

Pointing out that one of the reasons for the lack of progress on enlargement is that some EU countries prevent the accession of candidate countries, especially those with historical backgrounds, Chandrasekar cited the events between North Macedonia-Bulgaria-Greece as an example.

Chandrasekar stated that another reason is that the issue of enlargement was in the background on the agenda of the Union in the last 10 years until the Ukraine-Russia War, and said, "There may be a lack of will on the EU side because (enlargement) did not seem to have political urgency. This has been compounded by the feeling that candidate countries are not making the necessary reforms fast enough or, in some cases, are moving away from the European path," he said.

Pointing out that Turkey is a strategically important country in many respects as well as being a NATO ally of the EU, Chandrasekar shared the view that there has been a positive momentum in bilateral relations since the Ukraine-Russia War.

Reminding that high-level talks have resumed in recent years due to Turkey's ongoing war in Ukraine and its important mediator role in the Grain Deal, and that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attended the EU Foreign Ministers' Meeting on August 29 for the first time in 5 years, Chandrasekar said, "Although sometimes questions arise about foreign policy alignment, I think there is still a pro-European stance among the Turkish people and it would be a mistake to completely stop the accession negotiations."