{"id":1243,"date":"2026-10-21T13:52:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T12:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/efb.at\/?p=1243"},"modified":"2026-10-21T20:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T19:44:40","slug":"report-treffpunkt-europa-eu-enlargement-one-of-europes-great-success-stories-we-rarely-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/efb.at\/?p=1243","title":{"rendered":"Treffpunkt Europa: EU Enlargement \u2013 One of Europe\u2019s great success stories we rarely tell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On October 14th 2026, „Treffpunkt Europa“ focused on EU enlargement, featuring Sebastian Sch\u00e4ffer<\/strong> (IDM). He recalled the 2004 enlargement as a success story – today, however, enlargement is often seen as a burden, with Austria among the least supportive member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his input, Sch\u00e4ffer drew the line from the fear of the „Polish plumber“ to today’s fear of the „Ukrainian farmer“, and examined three countries that may join the EU: Montenegro, the frontrunner aiming to finalise all chapters before its 2027 elections; Moldova, split between a pro-EU government and Russian hybrid warfare; and Ukraine, where accession is not realistic as long as the Russian invasion continues. Discussed were equally the risks of national referenda, his call for an EU-wide referendum and treaty change, and the need for emotional, positive narratives rather than facts alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to Sebastian Sch\u00e4ffer and all participants for the engaging exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We meet regularly in Vienna. Check our next events or stay informed via Newsletter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On October 14th 2026, „Treffpunkt Europa“ focused on EU enlargement, featuring Sebastian Sch\u00e4ffer (IDM). He recalled the 2004 enlargement as a success story – today, however, enlargement is often seen as a burden, with Austria among the least supportive member states. In his input, Sch\u00e4ffer drew the line from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-efb-at","category-efb-wien"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1243"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1281,"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions\/1281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efb.at\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}