In the queue for the EU

"Enlargement is a political priority for the EU and a strategic investment", Kaja Kallas, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, reminded us at the beginning of November at the press conference held to review the progress of the EU candidate countries. Diplomatic language is the order of the day – no good points or bad points, and the emphasis on accession being open to all candidate countries one day.

This year, it was the countries that had made the most progress that were honoured: Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova. While the enthusiasm and good positioning of the first two is well known – the Journal presented them to you as the next to join the EU in our previous article – the highlighting of the next two may come as a surprise, since their application is very recent and no more advanced than others. The political message plays a major role here, as detailed in our recent editorial: the EU wants to integrate Ukraine and Moldova in the next few years.