Enlargement: press remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas at the college readout
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Opening remarks
Good afternoon,
Today the European Commission adopted its annual report on enlargement – a state of play for each accession country. Commissioner Kos and I will present this now.
The College also discussed a new high-speed rail network plan and transport investment plan. Executive Vice-President Fitto and Commissioner Tzitzikostas will present these here tomorrow at 10:00.
Finally, we approved two appointments today first, Petr Klement as Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office – OLAF. And second, Alberto De Gregorio Merino as Director-General of the Commission’s Legal Service. The date of effect of both appointments will be determined at a later stage.
Now on the main topic of today.
Enlargement is a political priority and a geopolitical investment. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and geopolitical shifts make the case for enlargement clear-cut. Enlargement is not a ‘nice to have’, it is necessity if we want to be a stronger player on the world stage. Chances to enlarge the Union do not come often, but the window is now wide open.
At the same time, we will not cut corners, and we do not offer shortcuts. Joining the EU remains a fair, tough and merit-based process. But new countries joining the EU by 2030 is a realistic goal.
Commissioner Kos will go into more details and specifics of each country but in a nutshell: the scorecards are largely positive for Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine. The outlook is mixed for Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Türkiye, and negative for Georgia.
Montenegro is the most advanced in the EU accession process. Albania has unprecedented momentum. Both are frontrunners for membership.
For Ukraine, membership in the EU can be a major security guarantee. No candidate country has ever implemented such sweeping reforms while at war. This shows Ukraine's remarkable commitment to membership.
Moldova's elections in October showed a clear ‘yes’ to a European future and the country has continued to implement key reforms.
Serbia and Kosovo each saw political crises that stalled progress. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, events in the Republika Srpska undermined progress towards EU accession. As I said in Sarajevo yesterday, the EU remains committed to the country’s security. Judicial reform laws and appointing a Chief Negotiator are key to move forward on accession. North Macedonia has not yet made the required constitutional changes.
Georgia has no viable path to the EU at this stage unless conditions change dramatically. It is now a candidate country in name only. Türkiye remains a key partner with whom we have engaged in several areas. But the deterioration of democratic standards, judicial independence, and fundamental rights have de facto frozen the enlargement process since 2018.
Enlargement is an immensely technical process. But it is far more than screening, negotiation chapters and implementing reforms. It is a choice. For example, alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy is a fundamental part of the process. Because this demonstrates a candidate country’s choice to see the world as we do and shape it with us.
Cleaning up corruption, cementing the rule of law and supporting free media are also as much about national and European security as they are about meeting fundamental accession criteria.
Security is at the top of everybody’s agenda right now. That is why we have already deepened security and defence cooperation with accession countries. We have signed joint security commitments with Ukraine, established Security and Defence Partnerships with Moldova, North Macedonia, and Albania, and are about to launch a new Security and Defence Dialogue with Montenegro.
Closer security cooperation is just one aspect of the support we offer candidate countries. This includes also financial assistance and gradual integration in the single market. I will leave Commissioner Kos to dive deeper into this.
Enlargement is also not just about the candidates, the European Union needs to be ready as well. To ensure this, the Commission is working on policy reviews and reforms to be able to grow.
Expanding the EU is in our best interest. It's a long-term investment in our security, economy, and global edge. Through enlargement Europe can grow its geopolitical power.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/media/video/I-279730
Q&A.
Q. A question to both the HR/VP and the Commissioner. The vocabulary the Commission's assessment on Ukraine is very positive, and yet it has not been possible to open any cluster yet. So, I just wonder if the Commission is discussing with the President of the European Council how we can proceed, how we can speed up things. And I also would like to know if you think Ukraine and Moldova should remain coupled in this process.
Thank you for your question. This remains a concern for 26 countries who want to really move forward with the process, we are consulting with the president of the Council also to find ways to proceed, and also to your other question, as we are saying that this is a merit based process, then considering the progress that both of those countries have made, we should move on with both of those countries and also the others that are mentioned in the enlargement report, because, as we say, it is a merit based process. Thank you.
Q. Two questions. First is the report praises a couple of the candidate countries for making progress on the rule of law, but when we talk to experts in the region, they often tell us that they are concerned to a greater or lesser extent about rule of law standards in most of these countries. So, what can the EU do to ensure that the process is more than, as you said, a box ticking exercise. So how can you make sure that the rule of law reforms stick, and that there will not be problems in the future. The second thing is, in the report you mentioned that the Commission considers that future accession trees should contain stronger safeguards, could you specify what kind of safeguards you have in mind. Thank you so much,
Rule of law is one of the key tasks that we have for the candidate countries, and it is also for their own benefit, because if the rule of law works, if the legal system works, then also investors trust to invest in the economy, which in turn, means the prosperity for the people. And that is why, it is not perfect. It is also not perfect in our Member States, I must say. But the progress that they have done and considering what they are doing the steps, I think it is what we assess. And of course, we are also in contact with civil society and all this criticism we are taking very seriously and following up also with candidate countries.
Q. I have a short question after this evaluation, should we expect some concrete steps regarding Georgia, for example, some proposals from the European Commission to the Council regarding, for example, to the ruling party? Thank you.
As you know, we have been trying to also put sanctions on those government officials who are using violence against peaceful protesters like in Georgia. So far, we do not have everybody on board when it comes to Member States, but we keep working on finding different ways to address these issues
Q. Montenegro is one of four countries that have 100% alignment with Foreign and Security policy. What is the European Commission doing to help those countries to mitigate negative effects? Constant and consistent alignment that also could have negative repercussions to their economies. Thank you very much.
On the question of the alignment of Foreign and Security Policy, we are in this very difficult and turbulent world and the European Union is all about values and principles, and we need to stick to those principles. Very often, really defending these values and principles is not free. Actually, it is costly, but we have to do it because the threats are existential for Europe right now and also for the world if you look at multilateralism being under heavy fire. So, we pay the costs, and we ask also our candidate countries to pay the cost equally, because it's about the values and principles that the European Union is all about. Thank you.
Q. Do you believe that the integration of Ukraine into the common European defence architecture will contribute to making the accession process faster? Because I read in the report that integration into the common market does make the ties with the EU stronger? What about defence?
Q. Do you think that the EU could really function with more than 30 Member States without implementing serious reforms? And the second one might seem off topic, but it is not actually because, I mean, the EU is quite reluctant to speak out against President Trump, probably it is wise, but as the US seems bound to do to Venezuela basically something not very different from what Russia is doing to Ukraine. I mean, do not get me wrong. Venezuela is a brutal dictatorship, a dysfunctional state, but it is still a sovereign state. So, is the EU okay with the prospect that the US might attack Venezuela?
First on Ukraine and the defence architecture, it is clear that we have so much to learn from Ukraine. I mean, the innovation that we see from there. They are the strongest army in Europe right now, and it is integrating Ukraine also in our projects that we do gradually when it comes to defense industry buildup, for example. It is a win-win for both sides. So, definitely it helps because, you know, for the overall integration as well. To the other question: could the European Union function with 30 members? There was discussion before we joined: could the European function with 28 members at that time, now 27? So, the questions have been always there. Now, of course, we have the Treaties. The Treaties give us possibilities to operate and we clearly also need to see and discuss whether we need to change anything in order to be able to adopt decisions, because it is true that if we talk about the European Union as a geopolitical power, we are a geopolitical power only when we are able to adopt decisions and act in accordance with it. And like Commissioner Kos mentioned, the European Commission is working also on the plan to, come up with the policy reviews and reforms to be able to grow. And on your second question, we stand with international law. International law gives only two reasons to use force against another country; one is self-defence and the other one is the Security Council resolution.
Q. Do you think there should be an abolition of the veto principle in Common and Foreign Security policy in order for enlargement to happen?
I think there are two sides. We have been talking about the candidate countries that have to deliver on reforms, on different things that we are asking them, but we need to be ready also on our side. We cannot end up in a situation where, actually we say it is a merit-based process, they have done their homework, but we have not. We say that we are not ready yet. So, that is why I think it is urgent to have those discussions now. Now coming to your other question, and considering that I am from a country that did not have a voice for 50 years, we cherish the fact that we are equals around the table, like big countries are. And this is the value of the European Union, really. So, most of the countries have not in any way abused this right, but been really constructive. If we are around the Council table, it is really, truly a spirit of compromise that is there: “I understand you have a problem. Can we solve this in this way?”. So that has gotten us so far. We have been able to deliver on very many, very complex topics. But it is also clear that we have a chance to discuss how we function, because the world has really changed. The world order is changing as we speak, and it is a question for us: what is our role there? And whether we are able to play this geopolitical game, and we are only able to play this game if we are able to adopt decisions. Thank you.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/media/video/I-280095