Why is there no nostalgia for EU enlargement?
Date/Time
May 1, 2026
09:15 - 11:45 CEST/CET
Place: Conference Room, Faculty of International Relations, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv
Europe in 2026 is shaped by nostalgia. Political debates across the continent invoke a supposedly more stable past, some longing for communist-era certainties, others for the pre-recession boom years or national sovereignty before overlapping crises took hold. But one thing stands out by its absence: there is no nostalgia for EU enlargement.
That is surprising. Enlargement turned the political rupture of 1989 into a lasting transformation. It anchored democracy, expanded prosperity, and reconnected a divided continent. Yet it never became part of Europe’s shared story. This lecture asks why. Enlargement was treated as a technical process, negotiated in chapters and benchmarks, rather than as a political achievement. It succeeded, but quietly and without a narrative that societies could identify with.
That absence matters today. For Ukraine, enlargement is not history. It is a strategic choice made under conditions of war. But across much of the European Union, the last successful enlargement is barely remembered. If enlargement is not remembered as a success, it becomes harder to argue for it again.
In Cooperation with Data Diplomacy Lab, Ukraine Office Austria and OeAD Kooperationsbüro Lwiw/Lemberg.
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