Bakhtyr, A: Accession to the EU

It would not be an overstatement to say that the EUand its enlargements have defined the history ofEurope since the World War II. The EU has alreadyexperienced five waves of enlargement and the processhas not been easy and straightforward. But theenlargement is still on the EU agenda. The paperdeals with the process of enlargement of the EU andwith two particular cases of accession - with thecase of Turkey and the case of Ukraine. During thepast enlargements the main logic behind the processwas the "idea of Europe". But it seems like it is notapplicable to the cases of Ukraine and Turkey. Thusnew arguments in favour and against the accession ofthese countries are put forward. These new argumentsinvolve the reassessment of the EU, its identity andits role in the world. Therefore both cases are verycomplex and multifaceted. The countries themselvesadd to this complexity.In the paper I study and compare the accession pathsof each country and the factors, which facilitate andimpede their accession. My conclusion is that bothcountries would eventually join the EU, but theprocess will take a long time, not least than 15-20years from now.