Growing pains: Can the EU handle enlargement?

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Russia’s war in Ukraine has given new momentum to EU enlargement — and raised a bigger question: Is the bloc itself ready to grow? This week, host Sarah Wheaton examines the EU’s growing pains — not just the politics and geopolitics of enlargement, but also the cultural and emotional questions of identity and belonging. She speaks with Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, head of Europa Nostra, about why Europe won’t feel complete until its whole cultural family is reunited; and with Icelandic politics professor Eirikur Bergmann on why his country may be revisiting its European path — more than a decade after freezing its EU bid. There's also a conversation led by POLITICO’s Gordon Repinski with Kosovo’s president, Vjosa Osmani, who reflects on her country’s long wait for membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Enlargement is not a nice to have.
0:03.0	It is a necessity if we want to be a stronger player on the world stage.
0:09.0	Chances to enlarge the Union to not come often, but this window is open now and we have to use it.
0:18.0	That was the EU's Foreign Policy Chief, Kaya Callas, unveiling the latest report card on how
0:26.0	candidate countries are doing on their way towards joining the block.
0:30.5	Her message was pretty clear.
0:33.5	Geopolitics has given a new life to the process of adding new EU members.
0:38.3	It's no longer just about enlargement. It's about existence.
0:43.3	If Europe doesn't hug its neighbors tighter,
0:46.3	rivals like Russia or China will wrench them away.
0:50.3	One headline from the annual progress report really stood out.
0:55.1	The EU could grow as soon as 2030.
1:03.4	Beyond that bold prediction, Moldova, Albania, and Montenegro earned praise for moving fast.
1:09.8	Ukraine scored a sharp needs improvement on fighting corruption.
1:13.7	Serbia and Georgia, well, they pretty much flunked.
1:17.1	So while some see enlargement as essential, it could also be catastrophic.
1:23.0	Brussels is learning a bitter lesson with Hungary, which shows how just one out-of-step member can
1:27.9	gum up the whole system. So is the EU ready to enlarge, ready to reform its own rules
1:35.0	and make space for new members? Beyond the politics and institutions, the Euro and Schengen,
1:41.8	what does belonging to the European Union actually mean today?
1:47.4	I'm Sarah Wheaton, host of EU Confidential, and this week we're examining Europe's growing pains,
1:53.6	looking at enlargement from different angles, political, cultural, and personal.
	...

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