Op-Ed: “EU enlargement at the crossroads” by Adam Łazowski

This contribution is part of the EU Law Live Symposium on the Accession of Ukraine to the European Union. See also the Op-Eds by Peter Van Elsuwege and Guillaume Van der Loo, by Dimitry Kochenov and Ronald Janse, by Allan F. Tatham and by Roman Petrov.

Looking back at almost 50 years of enlargements of the European Communities, and then the European Union, it is hard to remain ambivalent. On the one hand, consecutive expansions have brought some old divisions and conflicts to an end, and, by the same token, they have contributed to peaceful cooperation in large parts of the European continent. On the other hand, they have brought a lot of challenges which are – quite naturally – associated with more di