The Fifth Enlargement of the EU, Five Years On: The Case of Poland and the Czech Republic
In 2009, Europe will celebrate many anniversaries, all of which are of special importance for the new member states. It will be five years since the European Union"s (EU) big bang enlargement of 2004; ten years since the first enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to post-communist states; twenty years after the round-table negotiations in Poland and the fall of the Berlin Wall; seventy years since the beginning of World War II. With the exception of the Berlin Wall and the start of World War II, all other anniversaries will be celebrated during a new member state"s (the Czech Republic"s) EU Presidency: NATO enlarged in March, the EU in May, and the first partially-free elections were held in Poland in June.
Download the full analysis
This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.
The Fifth Enlargement of the EU, Five Years On: The Case of Poland and the Czech Republic
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programsFind out more
Discover all our analysesExpanding SPDMM as a pivotal institution in the Pacific – A French perspective
The South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) is the only forum that brings together defense ministers from the wider South Pacific — including Chile, which is hosting it for the first time. This heterogeneous group of countries with varying resources, capacities, and interests — Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Tonga — are united by their shared determination to strengthen cooperation on maritime security and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) activities.
EU’s Derisking From China: A Daunting Task
With economic security as a major concern, the EU has recently turned to “derisking” from China. The EU strategy entails reducing critical dependencies and vulnerabilities, including in EU supply chains, and diversifying where necessary, while recognizing the importance and need to maintain open channels of communication.
Sri Lanka’s NPP Government. From System Change to Structural Compliance
In September 2024, a relative outsider to Sri Lanka’s two-party-dominated political system, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, won the presidential elections. The anti-establishment, populist movement he represented, the National People’s Power (NPP), went on to receive an overwhelming mandate in the November 2024 general elections, winning 159 seats in a 225-member parliament.
Japan Under Trump: Alliance Strains, the Push for Autonomy and Essential Partnerships
Japan is under pressure from the United States (US) on punitive tariffs and demands for increased defence spending. This has sparked deep concern over US credibility and triggered growing domestic calls for greater autonomy.