Enlargement policy is back at the top of the EU’s agenda after more than a decade. After the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, the granting of candidate status to Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the launch of the Western Balkans Growth Plan, enlargement policy is experiencing a window of opportunity to overcome erstwhile fatigue in favour of tangible progress towards new members’ accession.

Moldova and Georgia in particular have gone through intense domestic political debate on how to secure their European futures. In Moldova’s constitutional referendum on pursuing the EU path, the ‘YES’ campaign achieved a narrow victory, but supporters of accession are certain to face political headwinds and Russia-sponsored disruptions. Georgia’s parliamentary elections were seen as a fateful choice between a European future (represented by the opposition) versus Russia-friendly authoritarianism (embodied by the ruling party). The Georgian elections were marred by irregularities and their legitimacy will remain contested, but the ruling party will likely seek to move on and stay in government.

Both countries’ experiences show how Russia is actively counteracting the EU enlargement process, not only via its war of aggression in Ukraine and occupation of land in Georgia and Moldova, but also via interference in electoral campaigns. Question marks loom over Moldova’s and Georgia’s ability to fend off this interference as well as the EU’s ability to help these countries stay on the EU path.

In this context, the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) and the Policy Management and Consulting Group (PMCG) hosted the public webinar “Elections in Georgia and Moldova: What Next for the Accession Path?” on 8 November. The event took place online via Zoom and was livestreamed on TEPSA’s YouTube channel.

SPEAKERS:

• Elene Panchulidze, Research Coordinator, European Partnership for Democracy (EPD);
• Iulian Groza, Executive Director, Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE, Moldova);
• Giselle Bosse, Associate Professor and Jean Monnet Chair, Maastricht University;
• Moderated by Mariam Khotenashvili, Executive Director, Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA).

With this event, we provided an overview of how specific factors emerging from recent electoral outcomes as well as the bigger picture of geopolitical context may impact the continuation of the enlargement process.

This webinar reflected on the findings of TEPSA’s latest book “Enlargement and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals”, co-edited by Michael Kaeding, Johannes Pollak, and Paul Schmidt, and published by Springer. The book gathers over 60 leading experts in 41 European countries to examine how different national histories, policies, and corresponding public perceptions can influence engagement with the EU enlargement process. It is part of an annual series coordinated by TEPSA examining important European themes from national perspectives. To learn more about the TEPSA book, click here.