Marta Kos: EU enlargement is a matter of security, for the first time we have a real chance to unite the continent

Enlargement Commissioner Martha Kos said EU enlargement policy has become a matter of European security and that Europeans must take responsibility for their future.

It has called the EU candidate countries « blind spots » on the continent that must « remove Europe to survive in the battle with powerful policies that have taken the world again ».

– And once and for all we must stop expecting others to do our work and decide on the security architecture of our continent. If Europeans want a place on their own table, we must be able to act and show unity – she said at the presentation of a new analysis of the European Political Center in Brussels (EPC) « Time Test: Permis through EU Enlargement and Reform ».

She noted that today the Union pays the price in many ways because it has not acted in the past and has been too long focused on itself.

– We did not act in the Western Balkans enough and did not even think about the membership of Ukraine and Moldova by 2022. Now we have to get the job done under much more difficult circumstances. Many have tried to unite the continent, but now, for the first time, there is a real chance that will happen. Enlargement is no longer the same, many changes occur. We are faced not only with Russia, but also with the withdrawal of the United States… which will reduce the decade -long policy of supporting democratic votes, independent media and the efficient judiciary. This is a direct security challenge. Today it is clear that if we want peace and security on our continent, we Europeans must take responsibility for our future – said Kos.

In a new analysis of the Brussels Center for European Policy (EPC), the EU has entered the era of successive and growing crises – Permacriza, and to stay relevant in and out of Europe, its members must accept the logic of « Perm changes » to be constantly adapted to the transformation. For the EU and its members, the analysis said – faced with geopolitical and geoeconomic turmoil, imperatives are expansion and reforms.

The authors of the analysis disagree with many suspicious votes from Brussels, EU capitals and countries on the road to membership, which believe the Union will not be able to extend and deepen in the coming years. They are convinced that Europeans can again determine the common future and point out that EU enlargement and reform is a matter of political choice.

According to the authors, enlargement and internal reform of the EU are necessary and need to be considered together – to fulfill the promise of candidates, the Union must adapt its operating system, and to adapt its management for the future, the EU needs to consider the EU with more than 30 members.

Kos also noted today that the issue of fulfilling reforms is no longer enough and that enlargement is a matter of security and unification of Europe.