20 May 2026
Enlargement on the Edge: Strategic investment, credibility, and resilience
Country Western Balkans
Date 6 October 2025
Author Nikos Bakirtzis
Publisher The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
This memo looks to further the enlargement process from its technocratic angle and shift it towards its political reality. The authors demand urgent action to address the challenges they identify. Enlargement today is both a risk and an opportunity; if seized, it can anchor Europe’s resilience; if stalled, the EU risks losing credibility, leverage, and stability in its immediate neighborhood. Three clusters of challenges are identified, first the EU institutional and internal dynamics, second the lagging in the Western Balkans reform agenda, third geopolitical pressure from China and Russia and the uncertainty of US commitment.
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