In 2008, NATO did not grant Ukraine and Georgia a Membership Action Plan. It was mainly the result of Vladimir Putin’s personal persuasion at the NATO Summit in Bucharest which took place that year. The Kremlin considered it as a weakness of the West and attacked Georgia the same year. Is the European Union now capable of taking a bolder decision with regards to countries aspiring to join its structures?

Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24th has changed not only our current understanding of European security, but also our thinking about the European Union and its place in the world. The belief that Europeans must play an important role in this unprecedented crisis offers a chance to reconsider some internal processes, including the policy of enlargement. This process has stagnated over the past decade. If strong enough political will is found, the Russian war against Ukraine could offer a concrete perspective on the country's future within the European community.

Whilst fighting continues in Donbas, governments and economists around the world are now thinking about a potential reconstruction plan for Ukraine. The scope of this project would mirror that of the post-war Marshall Plan and ultimately must take into account the peculiarities of Ukraine’s position.

Bulgaria’s veto for neighbouring North Macedonia’s accession talks to the European Union late last year could spell trouble in the long run for the rest of the region. By blocking Skopje’s European path, the decision taken by Bulgarian authorities goes to show how historical feuds in the region are still threatening to disrupt its already fragile and patchy path towards the EU.

The conditions that Bulgaria has set ahead for its much smaller neighbour include an official acknowledgement of having a common history, a change in the formulation describing the official language (Macedonian) which is being used in North Macedonia, and a roadmap for the implementation of a friendship treaty that the two countries signed in 2017. Bulgaria has also requested that the agreement includes Skopje's renunciation of claims to the existence of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.