EU enlargement moves forward for Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine

Key Points:

• Four countries—Albania, Montenegro, Moldova, and Ukraine—made significant progress in their EU membership negotiations during intergovernmental conferences in Brussels, marking one of the largest enlargement moves in over 20 years.
• Ukraine and Moldova opened new negotiation chapters focused on foreign relations, security, defense, trade policy, and humanitarian aid, while Albania and Montenegro provisionally closed chapters related to science, education, culture, competition policy, and customs rules.
• The EU’s shift toward accelerated enlargement is influenced by geopolitical changes, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns over Russian and Chinese influence, with Ukraine viewing EU membership as a key security guarantee.
• Hungary’s political change, following the ousting of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—who had blocked Ukraine and Moldova’s progress—has removed a major obstacle to the enlargement process.
• Nine countries are official EU candidates, but accession talks for Georgia and Turkey remain on hold due to democratic concerns, and Kosovo has applied but not yet received candidate status.