Abstract
Petersson looks back at the great Eastern enlargement of the European Union in 2004. At the time, it was seen as a huge gain for Western liberalism and democracy, even if certain problems were anticipated, primarily in connection with labour markets and social safety nets. Since then, enlargement has led to tensions within the Union of a kind that few had predicted. A serious challenge is mounted to the interpretation of the Copenhagen criteria regarding democracy, human rights and the rule of law. This is badly undermining trust and confidence in the Union. In Petersson’s view, the EU needs a unifying vision, even a common identity, to address this challenge and give the member states and their populations the motivation to keep moving forward together.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Barbulescu, R. (2016). Still a beacon of human rights? Considerations on the EU response to the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. Mediterranean Politics, 22(2), 301–308.
Bottici, C., & Challand, B. (2013). Imagining Europe: Myth, memory, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chen, C. (2016). The return of ideology: The search for regime identities in postcommunist Russia and China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Delors, J. (1989). Address given by Jacques Delors to the European Parliament, 17 January 1989. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from https://www.cvce.eu/content/publication/2003/8/22/b9c06b95-db97-4774-a700-e8aea5172233/publishable_en.pdf
European Commission. (2017). Conditions for membership. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/policy/conditions-membership_en
European Council Conclusions. (1993–2003). Retrieved October 25, 2017, from http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/european-council/conclusions/1993-2003/
Financial Times. (2016). Poland’s new government finds a model in Orban’s Hungary. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.ft.com/content/0a3c7d44-b48e-11e5-8358-9a82b43f6b2f?mhq5j=e5
Golden Dawn. (2016). Golden Dawn welcomes the leader of Russia, Mr. Vladimir Putin, to Greece. Retrieved November 1, 2017, from http://www.xryshaygh.com/en/view/golden-dawn-welcomes-the-leader-of-russia-mr.-vladimir-putin-to-greece
The Guardian. (2015). Hungary PM: Bring back death penalty and build work camps for immigrants. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/29/hungary-pm-death-penalty-work-camps-for-immigrants-viktor-orban
The Guardian. (2017). Poland hits back at EU ‘blackmail’ over judicial reforms. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/26/poland-hits-back-eu-blackmail-judicial-reforms
Havel, V. (2000). Address by Mr Václav Havel, President of the Czech Republic. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20000216+ITEM-012+DOC+XML+V0//EN
Hutcheson, D., & Petersson, B. (2016). Shortcut to legitimacy: Popularity in Putin’s Russia. Europe-Asia Studies, 68(7), 1107–1126.
Huysmans, J. (2000). The European Union and the securitization of migration. Journal of Common Market Studies, 38(5), 751–777.
The Independent. (2016). President Erdogan says freedom and democracy have ‘no value’ in Turkey amid arrests and military crackdown. Retrieved November 1, 2017, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/president-erdogan-says-freedom-and-democracy-have-no-value-in-turkey-amid-arrests-and-military-a6938266.html
Innes, A. (2015). Hungary’s illiberal democracy. Current History, 114(770), 95–100.
International Organization for Migration. (2015). Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.iom.int/news/irregular-migrant-refugee-arrivals-europe-top-one-million-2015-iom
International Organization for Migration. (2016). Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.iom.int/news/mediterranean-migrant-arrivals-top-363348-2016-deaths-sea-5079
Juncker, J.-C. (2016). State of the Union Address 2016: Towards a better Europe—A Europe that protects, empowers and defends, Strasbourg, 14 September 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-16-3043_en.htm
Klapsis, A. (2015). An unholy alliance: The European far right and Putin’s Russia. Brussels: Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.
Kundera, M. (1984). A kidnapped West or culture bows out. Granta, no. 11. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://granta.com/a-kidnapped-west-or-culture-bows-out/
Levada Center. (2017). Putin’s approval rating. Retrieved November 1, 2017, from http://www.levada.ru/en/ratings/
Makarychev, A. S. (2008). Russia’s search for international identity through the sovereign democracy concept. The International Spectator, 43(2), 49–62.
Manners, I. (2002). Normative power Europe: A contradiction in terms? Journal of Common Market Studies, 40(2), 235–258.
Müller, J.-W. (2016). The problem with ‘illiberal democracy’. Social Europe. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from https://www.socialeurope.eu/the-problem-with-illiberal-democracy
Neumann, I. B. (1999). Central Europe 1950–2000. Slavica Lundensia, 19, 15–28.
Neumann, I. B. (2015). Authoritarian East. Global Affairs, 1(1), 93–94.
Nye, J. K. (2004). Soft power: The means to success in world politics. New York: Public Affairs.
Orbán, V. (2014). Full text of Viktor Orbán’s speech at Băile Tuşnad (Tusnádfürdő) of 26 July 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from https://budapestbeacon.com/full-text-of-viktor-orbans-speech-at-baile-tusnad-tusnadfurdo-of-26-july-2014/
Persson, H.-Å., Petersson, B., & Stokholm Banke, C. (Eds.). (2015). Playing second fiddle: Contending visions of Europe’s future development. Malmö: Universus Academic Press.
Petersson, B. (2017). Putin and the Russian Mythscape: Dilemmas of charismatic legitimacy. Demokratizatsiya, 25(3), 235–254.
Petersson, B., & Hellström, A. (2003). The return of the kings: Temporality in the construction of EU identity. European Societies, 5(3), 235–252.
Prodi, R. (2000). Europe as I see it. Cambridge: Polity.
Reuters. (2017). In shift, Merkel backs end to EU-Turkey membership talks. Retrieved November 1, 2017, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-turkey-merkel/in-shift-merkel-backs-end-to-eu-turkey-membership-talks-idUSKCN1BE15B
Sakwa, R. (2014). Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the borderlands. London: IB Tauris.
Shore, C. (2013). Building Europe: The cultural politics of European integration. London: Routledge.
Swedish Radio. (2017). Turkiet på väg mot dödsstraff. Retrieved November 1, 2017, from http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=6676882
Turner, M. E. (Ed.). (2000). Groups at work: Theory and research. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
Weber, M. (1978). In G. Roth & C. Wittich (Eds.), Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Zakaria, F. (1997). The rise of illiberal democracy. Foreign Affairs, 76(6), 22–43.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Petersson, B. (2019). Perspective on the Eastern Enlargement: Triumph of the EU or Seed of Its Destruction?. In: Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, A., Bremberg, N., Michalski, A., Oxelheim, L. (eds) Trust in the European Union in Challenging Times. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73857-4_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73857-4_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73856-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73857-4
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)