The European Union must increase its geopolitical ambition and understand that its mission is not only economic. In a world that seems to lack reference points, Europe is the only entity that can act as a center of gravity for peoples who desire peace, well-being, social development and who want to shelter themselves from predatory actions such as the one that has been taking place in Ukraine for the past two years. It is about opening a new chapter in the enlargement of the EU from 27 members to 36.
The demand for Europe is growing more and more especially in countries that feel the breath on their necks of a Russia that has returned to its old imperial designs. These are the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. The former is seeing increasing pressure from Moscow, which has its troops in Transnistria, a self-proclaimed independent region from Kisinau, recognized only by three territories such as Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh .If Moldova were to join Europe, it would feel more sheltered from Moscow's constant interference. Similar discourse applies to Georgia, which these days sees its pro-European citizens demonstrating against a government that enjoys Moscow's sympathies and which, out of fear of being swept away in elections, has imposed a law against imagined interference from the West.
Georgia and Moldova urgently need to have a protective European umbrella.
However, Ukraine is the top priority for the EU, which must speed up procedures to provide security in Kyiv.
Then there are the Balkan countries such as Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina for which the time frame should not be long. And the case of Turkey, with its 85 million inhabitants and a historically bridging position between Europe and Asia, remains open. Cold toward Ankara have always been both Berlin and Paris, erring, as usual in their assessment. The fear of having an Islamic country in Europe has actually facilitated Erdogan's design to increasingly Islamize institutions that have had a long tradition of secularism. Would 36 countries be too many? It would suffice to establish two different levels of integration.
If all these states came in, the EU would have a population of more than 600 million. A huge market. A close axis between the EU and the U.S., with the repentant Uk and Canada would bring the Western front to over a billion inhabitants. An integrated market of these proportions would permanently put China's pretensions out of play and force Russia to reckon carefully.
*Published on The Discussion
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