Ukraine’s membership bid taken on real momentum since the country applied for EU membership in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Though Ukraine’s track record is generally positive, the devil is in the details. Difficult reforms, especially in the judiciary, require the attention and support of the EU and its member states.

Georgia’s democracy is on the brink of collapse following the fraud­ulent parlia­mentary elections in October 2024 and the violent crackdown by the ruling regime under the Georgian Dream party. In his policy brief, Sergi Kapanadze analyses how the country’s pro-European course has been derailed by systematic election manip­u­lation and repression. His analysis includes concrete recom­men­da­tions for the inter­na­tional community and a call to act now.

On 9 and 10 July, the Center for Liberal Modernity organized the inter­na­tional conference “EU Enlargement — a geopo­litical necessity and the next steps for the EU candidate states” with its partner organi­za­tions in Tbilisi, Georgia.

In December 2024, the EU made a geopo­litical decision and granted Georgia EU candidate status. In his policy brief, Sergi Kapanadze analyses what leverage the EU has to promote EU integration in Georgia and what signif­i­cance the upcoming parlia­mentary elections have in this regard.

It is remarkable that Ukraine is making progress in imple­menting 7 EU Commission prior­ities despite Russia’s ongoing war of aggression. In his policy brief, Leonid Litra empha­sises why the EU enlargement and deepening process should take place simul­ta­ne­ously and argues why the EU should start accession negoti­a­tions with Ukraine this year.

On the 8th of November the European Commission will for the first time ever present an enlargement report with recom­men­da­tions on Georgia. A few weeks later, the European Council will take a political decision on whether Georgia will be granted candidate status or will have to wait until autumn 2024. In his policy brief, Ivane Chkhik­vadze analyses the current state of EU reforms and makes concrete recom­men­da­tions for action.

The Moldovan expert, Denis Cenusa, analyses in his polcy brief that the Republic of Moldova has made progress in imple­menting the 9 prior­ities of the EU Commission, but also points out the obstacles and short­comings, especially in the area of the judiciary and the fight against corruption. Never­theless, he recom­mends that, given the geopo­litical and strategic reasons, the EU should start accession negoti­a­tions with Ukraine and Moldova as well as with Georgia in December 2023.

Unlike Ukraine and Moldova, Georgia has not been given candidate status to EU-Membership in June 2022. In order to receive it, the country must fulfill twelve recom­men­da­tions of the EU Commission, including reforms in the areas of deoli­garchization and anti-corruption. In his policy brief, Sergi Kapanadze analyzes the current status in both areas and makes concrete recom­men­da­tions for action.

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship Plus” we publish a series of input papers on the topic: Per­spec­tives and Path­ways to EU Can­di­date Status for Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic...

The political crisis in Georgia continues after the municipal runoff elections. The close election result exacer­bates the polar­ization between the supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition...

  On October 5, 2021, the Center Liberal Modernity held the public discussion on prior­ities for cooper­ation with Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova under the Eastern Partnership Plus project. The discussion...

When Angela Merkel took office as German Chancellor in 2005, she was better prepared for the challenges on the EU’s eastern border than any other West European head of government....

Online-Panel Discussion on October 6, 2020, with Gunther Krichbaum, Johannes Schraps, Renata Alt, Manuel Sarrazin und others.

As part of our project “Eastern Part­ner­ship 2.0” we publish a series of arti­cles about the three EU asso­ci­a­tion states. The authors from the region (Mikheil Benidze, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Victor Gotisan)...

In the LibMod policy paper: “The Eastern Partner­ship’s Missing Security Dimension” Gustav C. Gressel analyses the precarious security situation in the three EU associate countries and sheds light on EU...

As part of our project “Eastern Partnership 2.0” we publish a series of articles about the three EU associ­ation states (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova). Three authors from the region (Veronika Movchan, Irina...