In her State of the Union address to the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen announced that the Commission would soon present “roadmaps” for the most advanced candidate countries, while stressing that the accession process would remain merit-based and anchored in European values.
At the start of what Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos described just 10 days ago as an “autumn of enlargement”, there was surprisingly little in the speech by way of substance or new elements.
It was only at the very end of the 80-minute address that a brief penultimate paragraph turned to the aspirations of candidate countries. But much of that section was devoted to condemning the glorification of war crimes seen around Ratko Mladić’s funeral in Belgrade.
