Thread by @tepsaeu

From the @RECLAIM_HEU conference in #Prague we zoom over to 🇷🇴 for our public debate with @EuroInstRomania entitled “Enlargement and the Future of Europe: Perspectives from Romania”

/THREAD 🧵

Be sure to follow on our livestream if you haven’t already joined us‼️


/2

This event takes place in the context of TEPSA’s latest book “Enlargement and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals”, co-edited by Michael Kaeding, @JohannesPollak & @_PaulSchmidt

Head over to our website to learn more!
👉

/3tepsa.eu/book-on-the-fu…

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt The book examines 4⃣1⃣ national perspectives on the question of future 🇪🇺 #enlargement, taking a political, social, historical, and attitudinal journey across the European continent (not just the EU!) to discover what synergies, differences, and surprises there may be

/4

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt In this event we are delighted to welcome senior experts from @EuroInstRomania: Oana-Mihaela Mocanu, @MihaiSebe83 & @Eliza_Vas_

/5

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ We are also delighted to welcome voices from beyond the TEPSA Network, namely @longhurstkerry (@CollegiumC), Associate Professor Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă, and @yasen_georgiev from @epi_bg

/6

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg First, some remarks from our moderator Michael Kaeding: "discussions like this on must happen across the European Union as we move towards a new enlargement, in a context where we are still coming to terms with the previous one, and with the departure of one Member State"
/7

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg We turn first to @MihaiSebe83 for the historical perspective of Romania's views on #enlargement: "going back to 1989, Central and Eastern Europe faced the dilemma of which political direction to take: EU accession allowed these countries to return to normality and democracy"

/8

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "Romania has experience of a long-awaited accession, and based on that experience, since 2007 Romania has only ever supported enlargement"

- @MihaiSebe83 (@EuroInstRomania)

/9

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "Romanians see the value of the EU as being defined by enlargement as a political and strategic signal from Europe to the candidate country in question"

- @MihaiSebe83 (@EuroInstRomania)

/10

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg For particular policy recommendations on how to advance EU enlargement, Michael turns the discussion to @Eliza_Vas_: "enlargement has been a priority of Romanian citizens in recent years, especially towards the Western Balkans"

/11

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "We are now 20 years on from the 'big bang' enlargement, and the Member States who joined at that time have seen the benefits of EU membership has brought"

- @Eliza_Vas_ (@EuroInstRomania)

/12

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "The EU needs to offer more support by considering the different factors which can help or hinder the accession process: trust and support of citizens in the candidate countries, the readiness of the EU to integrate, and the impact of external actors"

- @Eliza_Vas_

/13

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg We now turn to Assistant Professor Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă, from the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest: "Stereotypes make one story the only story, and this is a problem - there is no one single version of enlargement"

/14

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "Too often, the EU focusses too much on its on single perspective on enlargement, but in the dire times of the war in Ukraine, now even the most reluctant Member States have recognised that enlargement is not just a technocratic exercise"

- Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă

/15

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "Romania will hold 4 rounds of elections - there are Eurosceptic views which risk hijacking the enlargement discussion to use it for fearmongering. Moreover, trust in the EU has been very low in recent years, so there is some reason for alarm"

- Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă

/16

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg .@yasen_georgiev (@epi_bg) starts his intervention on the Bulgarian perspective: "the modern EU is different from the one which enlarged in the early-2000s: these days, the Union is more focussed internally, particularly in the eurozone"

/17

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "We need to ensure public support for enlargement before doing it: in the so-called 'old Member States', support for enlargement is declining. So we need to make enlargement appealing to citizens"

.@yasen_georgiev (@epi_bg)

/18

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "European divisions on enlargement are going to be used by external actors in order to block, stop, or prolong thee process of accession"

- @yasen_georgiev (@epi_bg)

/19

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg The last speaker in our initial round of discussion is @longhurstkerry: "we are currently in a new enlargement momentum, and even if it slows down or encounters obstacles"

/20

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "There are innate differences with this enlargement: the clear geopolitical character, with countries at war or in frozen conflicts. It is naïve to assume integration will in itself resolve these conflicts"

- @longhurstkerry (@CollegiumC)

/21

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "We are now dealing with a new 'clustered' approach to enlargement, and if we don't compromise our methodology in some way, this means enlargement will tak longer than we want it to given the geopolitical implications"

- @longhurstkerry (@CollegiumC)

/22

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg "Another novelty here is a lack of united support behind enlargement in some of the candidates: in Moldova, the opposition parties are not contributing to the same national consensus that existed in candidate countries in previous enlargements"
- @longhurstkerry (@CollegiumC)
/23

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg Following these initial interventions, our moderator Michael Kaeding (@unidue) opens the floor to questions from the audience in our Zoom webinar

To follow along head over to our YouTube channel 👉

/24tepsa.eu/events/enlarge…

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg @unidue On this note our moderator Michael Kaeding, co-editor of "Enlargement and the Future of Europe: Views from the Capitals", closes our public debate with @EuroInstRomania 👉 be sure to stay tuned not only for the FULL event recording but for future debates with TEPSA!

/ENDS

@JohannesPollak @_PaulSchmidt @EuroInstRomania @MihaiSebe83 @Eliza_Vas_ @longhurstkerry @CollegiumC @yasen_georgiev @epi_bg @unidue @threadreaderapp please unroll