EU Expansion: How Will the Long Wait End?

Western Balkan EU candidates have faced years of delay on their path toward membership, despite long-standing efforts to advance.

Currently, nine countries are seeking to join or maintain their candidate status within the European Union, with seven of them already engaged in accession negotiations, the final stage before membership.

Albania and Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009, Montenegro in 2008, and North Macedonia has been waiting since 2004.

The last country to join the EU, Croatia, waited 10 years from its application until the final green light in 2013, while Romania and Bulgaria each spent 12 years negotiating their accession.

Despite continuous reforms and efforts to align their policies with the EU, Western Balkan nations remain in limbo. However, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape have reignited Brussels’ motivation to revive the enlargement process, recognizing it as a strategic priority for stability and influence.

Expanding southeastward is now seen as a key foreign policy tool and a strategic priority across the bloc — so much so that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen referred to it as “Europe’s reunification” in her latest State of the Union address.

Each candidate must meet a set of governance standards, known as the Copenhagen criteria, established in 1993. The European Commission evaluates progress toward these benchmarks, but final approval requires unanimous consent from all 27 EU member state leaders.

Next week, the European Commission will present its 2025 Enlargement Package, the annual report assessing the progress of countries aspiring to join the EU.

Source: Euronews

Photo: AP