Watch the public lecture delivered by Laszlo Bruszt, our Program Director, given upon receiving the Dr. Elemer Hantos Prize at the Geneva Graduate Institute.
Abstract:
EU enlargement has long been guided by the belief that democratic institutions, once established through external conditionality, become self-sustaining. This lecture revisits that assumption, arguing that the separation of economic integration from the continuous strengthening of political institutions—and the underestimation of the distributive consequences of Single Market integration, including the political uses of its corrective instruments—has, at times, weakened domestic support for democracy. Reflecting on the first wave of Eastern enlargement and the case of Ukraine, it suggests the need for a more integrated strategy linking markets, institutions, and social stabilisation.
The Dr. Elemér Hantos Prize is awarded periodically to a person, persons, or organisation for their efforts to promote Economic Cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe. The Dr. Elemér Hantos Award is provided by the Central Europe Foundation of Zurich, Switzerland.
Watch the video: