Policy Voices | Enlargement and the EU's defence

This is the third episode of Overcoming Polarisation: Paths to Common Ground, a podcast series from Debating Europe, Friends of Europe’s citizen engagement unit. In this episode, we’re discussing the EU’s enlargement, with a particular view to the Western Balkans. Europe is feeling fractured. Whether it’s politics, climate, tech, or trust in institutions, more and more people are feeling left out, unheard, and uncertain about the future. But what if we could flip the script? What if instead of fuelling division, we looked for common ground? In this series, we’re diving into the real issues behind polarisation. Economic inequality, climate anxiety, digital disruption, and bringing together voices from across the spectrum. From policymakers, activists, business leaders, and most importantly, citizens’ voices via our latest study “Voices for Choices”. In today’s show, former host Catarina Vila Nova sat down with Nathalie Tocci, director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome, to discuss the faultlines keeping EU states from agreeing on enlargement and EU citizens’ lack of knowledge about many of the candidate countries. Host Sabina Șancu is speaking with Valbona Zeneli, senior fellow for Peace, Security and Defence here at Friends of Europe, and non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, about “enlargement fatigue”, external influences on the Western Balkan countries, and the steps these countries still need to take in order to create prosperity. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]