A Shift in Mood: Kallas Signals Growing Appetite for Faster EU Enlargement

Geert Vanden Wijngaert / AP / dpa

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas used her annual address at the European Union Ambassadors Conference on Tuesday to make a pointed case for accelerating enlargement, describing it as "the antidote to Russian imperialism" and a sign that "the most ambitious multilateral project in history — the European Union — is here to stay."

The remarks will be welcomed in Western Balkan capitals, where governments have long grown frustrated with an accession process that moves at a glacial pace. At the Budapest Balkans Forum yesterday, Filip Ivanović, deputy prime minister for foreign and European affairs of Montenegro described EU membership as “an ever-moving target, a dream that keeps escaping us.”

Kallas was careful to frame enlargement not as an act of generosity toward candidate countries, but as a strategic necessity for the EU itself — a framing that advocates have been pushing for years, and one that is long overdue.

"Enlargement has been described as the Union's most successful foreign policy, extending the area of stability, peace and prosperity," she told ambassadors. But she was quick to add the crucial caveat that many in Brussels have been reluctant to say out loud: "In the current context we need to step up the pace. Enlargement is a geopolitical choice."

For a region that has watched accession promises stretch across decades, with summits and conferences producing news headings and little else, these words must be followed by action. The Western Balkans have been told repeatedly that their European future is assured. What they have rarely been told is that Europe is in any kind of hurry to get there.

What is particularly notable is how Kallas grounded her argument in public opinion, pushing back against those who use voter anxiety as a justification for delay. Citing Eurobarometer data, she noted that "more citizens support enlargement than worry about uncontrolled migration", a direct and deliberate rebuttal to the political forces that have long used migration as cover for foot-dragging on accession.

Her broader message to ambassadors was one of urgency across the board. She described a world defined by "competition and coercive power politics" and warned of the "weakening of existing international norms, rules and institutions that we have built over 80 years." In that context, keeping the Western Balkans in a permanent waiting room is not a neutral act — it is a gift to those who would rather see the region pulled in other directions.

Kallas also made clear that the EU's offer to the world has never been broader, pointing to new trade agreements, security partnerships and an expanding network of alliances. The question is whether that same energy and ambition will be directed toward the countries on the EU's own doorstep, who have been waiting the longest, promised the most and whose European aspirations remain the most tested.

The Western Balkans are not yet in the fast lane, the gap between rhetoric and reality remains wide. Words from the EU's top diplomat carry weight in candidate country capitals, in Brussels corridors and, crucially, among the member states whose hesitancy has done so much to stall the process.

WB30 believes that excluding any of the Western Balkan states from the EU will ensure that the Western Balkans remain a factor for instability in the heart of Europe that can be exploited by Europe’s enemies. WB30 urges the European Union and its capitals to show courage and imagination in order to strengthen and consolidate our collective security and prosperity.