In his address, the deputy foreign minister stressed the geopolitical implications of the enlargement policy and noted that it must be based on the candidate states’ genuine progress.

The discussion among experts was preceded by the analysis of the Enlargement Package prepared by Ms. Elżbieta Kac of the Polish Institute of International Affairs. The Package had been drafted by the European Commission and contains an assessment of the progress made by candidate countries on their path towards EU membership. 

The debate focused on opportunities to further support the enlargement process—both in contacts with EU candidate countries and with EU institutions and other member states.

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The Tallinn Group is an informal group of EU member states that support the enlargement process (“friends of the enlargement”). It is composed of Estonia, the initiator of the Group, and Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

 

Photo: Barbara Milkowska/MFA