EU enlargement will succeed only if the institution acknowledges the need to “step up” its geopolitical efforts, a former State Secretary for EU Affairs told TVP World in an exclusive interview.
As Moldova and Ukraine push to acquire EU membership, questions remain about whether their efforts will prove fruitful.
To discuss the prospects of EU enlargement, TVP World spoke to Oana Popescu-Zamfir, a former State Secretary for EU Affairs and the current director of an independent foreign policy think-tank GlobalFocus Center.
She said that when it comes to the enlargement of the EU, “everything…hinges on political will.”
“I think from next year, it really all depends on whether we decide as the EU, that we want to play this game more geopolitically and we genuinely attach that importance to enlargement, or if we don’t.”
Zamfir warned that the West, which emerged as the dominant global power after the Cold War, is now facing “increased competition from the likes of China and Russia.”
This has led to what she called an “international environment,” where there are multiple proposals on the table.
“You can be more like the EU, or you can decide to be not necessarily more like China or more like Russia, but somewhere in between.
“You don’t have to necessarily align with anyone in particular. You can just try to play everyone, and I think that’s very tempting.”
She highlighted that countries like Georgia, Serbia, and even Hungary, an EU member, often operate in this gray area without fully aligning with any camp.
Amid these strategic maneuvers, Zamfir said that the “key to whether [EU] enlargement is going to be successful and it’s going to work in our favor as well as the EU is if we admit that we need to step up our game geopolitically.”
She also stressed that the institution must send a clear message to member states that “they cannot have EU money and EU support in development and achieving prosperity, but at the same time give strategic contracts to the Chinese or allow unlimited Russian interference.”
Click on the video above to watch the full interview.
To discuss the prospects of EU enlargement, TVP World spoke to Oana Popescu-Zamfir, a former State Secretary for EU Affairs and the current director of an independent foreign policy think-tank GlobalFocus Center.
She said that when it comes to the enlargement of the EU, “everything…hinges on political will.”
“I think from next year, it really all depends on whether we decide as the EU, that we want to play this game more geopolitically and we genuinely attach that importance to enlargement, or if we don’t.”
Zamfir warned that the West, which emerged as the dominant global power after the Cold War, is now facing “increased competition from the likes of China and Russia.”
This has led to what she called an “international environment,” where there are multiple proposals on the table.
“You can be more like the EU, or you can decide to be not necessarily more like China or more like Russia, but somewhere in between.
“You don’t have to necessarily align with anyone in particular. You can just try to play everyone, and I think that’s very tempting.”
She highlighted that countries like Georgia, Serbia, and even Hungary, an EU member, often operate in this gray area without fully aligning with any camp.
Amid these strategic maneuvers, Zamfir said that the “key to whether [EU] enlargement is going to be successful and it’s going to work in our favor as well as the EU is if we admit that we need to step up our game geopolitically.”
She also stressed that the institution must send a clear message to member states that “they cannot have EU money and EU support in development and achieving prosperity, but at the same time give strategic contracts to the Chinese or allow unlimited Russian interference.”
Click on the video above to watch the full interview.
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