EU ties candidate enlargement to strict foreign policy and democratic alignment

The European Commission is putting greater weight on how candidate countries align with European Union foreign and security policy, Euronews reported. The EU is linking its enlargement process to foreign policy and democratic alignment, using a new gradual integration plan. In its annual assessment reports, Serbia, Georgia, and Turkey received the lowest scores and showed signs of backsliding. [1]

Euronews reported that the lack of alignment by Georgia, Turkey, and Serbia could restrict their access to gradual integration. Brussels is determined to use the enlargement process to align neighbouring countries with its external actions, especially as Russia's war against Ukraine leads to hybrid attacks on EU territory. [1]

There are currently nine recognized candidate states for EU membership, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Accession talks with Turkey have been at an effective standstill since December 2016. Georgia is a Black Sea nation bordering Russia and Turkey, with a population of 3.9 million. [2][4]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, European Council President António Costa framed EU expansion as a strategic priority at the Euronews Enlargement Summit. Montenegro is aiming to join the bloc by 2028. Meanwhile, Serbia faces internal political changes after Aleksandar Vučić resigned as president on September 27 to run for prime minister in snap parliamentary elections. [6][7]