Enlargement of the European Union was one of the priorities outlined by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech on September 13th, and it is likely to become an ever more pressing issue over the next few years. After the speech, Talking Europe sat down with the EU Commissioner in charge of neighbourhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi. He is a distinguished Hungarian diplomat and lawyer. He served as Hungary's ambassador to the EU, and has held prominent positions at the Hungarian ministry of justice and ministry of foreign affairs.
Várhelyi insists that there has been a new approach to EU enlargement since the war in Ukraine: “We've seen that with the war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine, there's a clear rethinking about enlargement being a priority,” he says. “I think by now it is clear for everyone in Europe, not only for the leaders but also for the general public, that if Europe wants to ensure its long-term security and prosperity, it will need to enlarge, and it will need to have a larger population coming under the same values and creating the same area for everyone in a Europe of peace, stability and security. Now, if you want to look at the State of the Union speech in that context, I think this speech paved the way for how to achieve this, as a mid-term or even short-term reality.”
