Thewesternbalkans.
An increasing number of politicians and experts in Europe are realizing that the appeal of EU enlargement is not automatic. Wealthy nations, such as Iceland, avoid the EU—finding enlargement unattractive—while for poorer countries (in the Western Balkans) that strongly desire membership, the necessary democratic transformations hold little appeal. The EU must give serious thought to the vision behind enlargement, rather than focusing solely on bureaucratic procedures.
An exceptionally useful and visionary work in this regard was presented in October 2026: „Empowering the Geopolitical EU in the Eastern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans“, which explores potential geopolitical futures for EU candidate states. This strategic foresight study was conducted by VE INSIGHT, a Vienna-based investment risk advisory firm specializing in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. The study, produced by VE INSIGHT as part of the Geo-Power-EU project, was authored by Marcus How, Malwina Talik, and Raleigh Kuipers.
This fundamental and timely work develops eight scenarios for the evolution of the regional order in the neighborhood of EU candidate states. With the kind permission of the authors, we provide a link to the study:
