Steven Blockmans

#REUNIR #Confessionals
In this edition, 🇦🇱's Ambassador to the 🇪🇺Ferit Hoxha, shares his reflections on the key external threats facing Albania today - and how resilience and progress toward EU accession remain deeply interconnected. 🇪🇺🇦🇱

@horizoneu.bsky.social

More: reunir-horizon.eu/reunir-confe...

We are live (streaming): www.ceps.eu/ceps-events/...

with DG Koopman 🇪🇺 and Ambassadors of Albania 🇦🇱, Kosovo 🇽🇰, Moldova 🇲🇩, Montenegro 🇲🇪, Ukraine 🇺🇦

#Lawfare: Many advanced weapons systems rely on rare-earth elements, incl. F-35 fighter jets, radar systems, Predator UAVs, the Joint Direct Attack Munition series of smart bombs, and Tomahawk missiles, which Trump is considering sending to Ukraine.

www.rferl.org/a/33558748.h...

GIP, Georgia’s Key Think Tank, Halts Work Citing Repression, Loss of Mission - Civil Georgia The Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP), a leading Tbilisi-based think tank established in 2011, an

One more of our trusted partners falls victim to the Georgian Dream’s increasing repression. As an independent policy research institution sharing GIP’s democratic values, @ceps.eu stands with its Georgian colleagues

civil.ge/archives/703...

From Stalemate to Solution: Rethinking EU Approaches to Bilateral Disputes in the Context of Enlargement - ICDS Although Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has given new momentum to the European Union’s enlargement process, further progress is being hindered by unresolved bilateral disputes.

The ability to manage and resolve disputes is not merely a technical requirement for EU enlargement but increasingly a strategic necessity in a more conflicted geopolitical environment.

📄 New report by Steven Blockmans and Butrint Berisha.

@stevenblockmans.bsky.social @butrintberisha.bsky.social

With references to my recent @ceps.eu policy brief with Michael Emerson on how to radically simplify and streamline the EU enlargement process

👉 www.ceps.eu/ceps-publica...

VDL has promised to widen the ‘simplification’ agenda to other policy areas. With various forms of ‘gradual integration’, her Commission has gone the opposite way, adding administrative burden to an already long and cumbersome process.

Here’s a proposal to radically simplify EU enlargement 👇

#REUNIRBlog

🇲🇩 In a new op-ed, Iulian Groza (IPRE - Institutul pentru Politici și Reforme Europene) highlights how civil society, independent media, and state institutions are working together to safeguard democratic integrity.

👉 Read more: reunir-horizon.eu/op-ed-moldov...

@horizoneu.bsky.social

Can international organisations be both effective and robust — or must one always come at the expense of the other?

Read about the trade-offs IOs must navigate to deliver results while remaining resilient to existential challenges: www.ensuredeurope.eu/publications

How to radically simplify and streamline the EU enlargement process – CEPS Over the last year the EU’s enlargement process has seen the implementation of a new ‘gradual integration’ concept, allowing for some modest elements of single

Noting that Von der Leyen’s drive to simplify EU regulations and governance is an open-ended commitment, Michael Emerson and I advocate that the Commission takes up the enlargement process as a next case of application. Via @ceps.eu

www.ceps.eu/ceps-publica...

📢 We are launching a new Task Force on a European Pillar within NATO with @rusi.bsky.social, Clingendael and the Institute for European Policymaking of Bocconi University.

It will bring together experts to define practical steps for strengthening Europe’s defence readiness.

👉 bit.ly/4mGWJnr

Caught between an aggressive Russia and a disengaging US, Europe is ramping up its defence spending. But is it enough to deter Russia? Does the EU need new competences to turbocharge defence procurement & build a stronger defence industry?

📅 Join us on Wednesday to discuss it! bit.ly/4g3GyOC

Moldova Should Not Be Decoupled from Ukraine in EU Accession - ICDS Member states are currently considering putting Moldova ahead of Ukraine on the track to join the European Union. While the desire to secure Moldova’s EU trajectory ahead of parliamentary elections at...

"Enlargement must be a reward for sustained reform, not an instrument of short-term political engineering."

Pushing Moldova’s EU bid before September’s election is understandable, but decoupling it from Ukraine would be a mistake, argues Steven Blockmans.

@stevenblockmans.bsky.social

Perspectives on enlargement and reform of the EU: Fit for 35 Eight leading experts discuss how to achieve peace, security and stability in Europe by enlarging the EU.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has transformed the security situation in Europe. One consequence is that EU enlargement is once again a top priority.

In a new SIEPS publication, leading experts discuss what it takes to achieve peace, security and stability in Europe by enlarging the EU.

Europe’s summer of humiliation America knew the EU was weak. The rest of the world knows it now

Psychologically, will this forced appeasement finally push Europe to take itself seriously as a geopolitical power, or will it instead entrench European division and dependence? The signs are not very promising.

on.ft.com/4l7amea

Madalina Dobrescu, Associate Professor of European Studies at NTNU explores:

❓ What are the key challenges & opportunities for the EU in strengthening its engagement with Moldova & broader EN in current geopolitical climate?

Watch here: reunir-horizon.eu/reunir-mid-t...
@horizoneu.bsky.social

In this video, Prof. Dr. Laure Delcour, Associate Professor at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, discusses:

How can the the EU better align its normative agenda with geopolitical imperatives in Eastern Europe?

Watch here: reunir-horizon.eu/reunir-mid-t...

@horizoneu.bsky.social #REUNIR

Open letter from 34 ex-EU ambassadors: 'Act now against Israel' An open letter by 34 former European Union ambassadors calling for immediate and effective measures against Israel’s unlawful actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

More powerful than the previous open letter, these fmr EUDs are not mincing their words:

Silence and neutrality in the face of genocide constitute complicity. Inaction emboldens perpetrators and betrays every principle the Union and its member states claim to uphold.

euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

We’re continuing our video series from #REUNIR Mid-Term Conference in Tbilisi

In this video, Jelena Pejic Nikic, @bezbednost.bsky.social discusses:

What role does public perception play in the pace of democratic reforms in the WB?

Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML0Z...
@horizoneu.bsky.social

📌 Expert insights from 2nd Mid-Term Conference in Tbilisi. In our 1st video, @fbieber.bsky.social answers the question:

❓ What lessons from the Western Balkans can be applied to the EU’s approach toward its Eastern neighbours?

@horizoneu.bsky.social

Watch here: reunir-horizon.eu/reunir-mid-t...

In this video, Prof. Dr. Hylke Dijkstra, Prof. of International Security &Cooperation, Maastricht University,answers the question:

What’s the biggest challenge for aligning EU strategies with the realities of candidate countries?

Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0_2...

@horizoneu.bsky.social

Lawyers file case against EU Commission and Council for 'failure to act' on Gaza genocide Lawyers specialising in international law will file an “action for failure to act” with the European Court of Justice on Thursday for the inaction of the EU Commission and Council in the massacres per...

“The [HRs] must be careful, because one day they could be tried by the [ICC] for complicity in genocide. I can assure you that we will not stop; we have embarked on a long journey", said Alfonso Dorado, French criminal lawyer, advisor to the ICC.
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

The resurrection of the London-Paris-Berlin triangle In the face of geopolitical instability, close trilateral relations are essential

My thoughts in the FT on the agreements with France last week and this week’s Treaty with Germany. The Brexit shadow has lifted from UK bilateral relations in Europe. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇩🇪are now clearly in the lead in weaning Europe off over-dependence on the US. It will be a long haul. www.ft.com/content/fb29...

Irrespective of “Kallas’s” (temporary?) aid deal: (i) suspend trade-related parts of the EU-Israel association agreement; (ii) ban all products & services coming from, and all business transactions with, illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank; (iii) suspend Horizon research funding.

#REUNIR 📣 Save the date & join us for the End-of-Presidency discussion: Is European Integration Still on the Table for the Eastern Partnership?

🗓️ Date: July 9
🕥 Time: 10:30–12:30 CEST
📍 Venue: College of Europe, Natolin campus
🌐 Zoom link: coleurope-eu.zoom.us/j/81154632586

@horizoneu.bsky.social

Wealthy Russian tourists back in EU despite Ukraine war Wealthy Russian tourists are flocking back to Italy, France, and Spain — despite the Ukraine war and EU allies' security fears.

Professional spies aside, some Russian citizens may be pressured or incentivised to use their smartphones to map critical [EU] infrastructure, observe troop movements, or conduct other pre-operational surveillance. euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

🔴 LIVE NOW / Our @reunir.bsky.social's event is kicking off!
 
We are looking forward to constructive insights from @ric-alcaro.bsky.social on the overlapping constraints defining EU policy.
 
Learn more 👉 www.ceps.eu/ceps-events/...

For MS to use the 5% pledge & build a “common defence” (Art 24.1 TEU) as a European pillar within NATO, the key capabilities listed in the White Paper need to be framed in a roadmap which adds the rest of DOTMLPF-P to strengthen the EU’s military arm.

I took some time to unpack these elements 👇

📣 Aan de vooravond van de NAVO-top in Den Haag presenteert Charge een routekaart naar Europese defensie in 2035. Het @ceps.eu onder leiding van @stevenblockmans.bsky.social onderzocht de mogelijkheden en kansen voor Europese defensie. Rapport is nu beschikbaar: tinyurl.com/7h7k9xjp

Turkey, Europe, and the quest for security The European security architecture is being reorganised due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s antagonistic attitude towards Europe. This CEPS Policy Brief looks at the...

Europe’s push to agree security guarantees for Ukraine while boosting its own defences without the US presents a rare opportunity for Erdogan’s Turkey.

Thanks @csis.org for hosting a debate w @ilketoygur.bsky.social, @maxbergmann.bsky.social & myself via CATS @swp-berlin.org and @ceps.eu