Exporting Illiberalism: Challenges to EU Enlargement Policy

Enlargement has been hailed for decades as the EU’s most successful democracy promotion tool, one that offers membership as a powerful incentive for liberal democratic reforms. Yet this mechanism depends on the bloc’s credibility as a community of liberal democracies. The rise of illiberal forces in member states, above all in Hungary, has fundamentally altered this framework. By leveraging its veto powers, diplomatic influence, and influence in key EU institutions, the Hungarian government has increasingly used its position to obstruct the EU’s democracy-promotion efforts, particularly in Georgia and Serbia.

This panel will discuss, through the example of Hungary, how illiberal actors weaken the EU’s democracy promotion toolkit by legitimizing like-minded forces in candidate states and obstructing the use of conditionality. The discussion will explore vulnerabilities of EU enlargement policy and consider how the EU can rebuild credibility as a promoter of liberal democracy in its immediate neighborhood.

To register for the event, please click on the button above. Details for access will be sent to registrants. For more information, contact Zsuzsanna Végh at [email protected].

This event is part of GMF’s ReThink.CEE Fellowship program.


The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan organization that advances the transatlantic partnership to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
 
With headquarters in Washington, DC; offices in Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Warsaw, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Ankara; representations in London and Madrid; and more than 140 experts and fellows worldwide, GMF is a hub for policy innovation, convening, and leadership development.
 
GMF’s work focuses on three priorities: strengthening transatlantic security, advancing economic and technological competitiveness, and adapting to a shifting global landscape.