Anghel, V. (2025). Why the EU is a geopolitical power: wartime enlargement, integration, and reform. Journal of European Public Policy, 32(12), 2862–2885.
Abstract: The European Union is undergoing strategic redefinition through wartime conditions and shifting global orders, seeking to position itself as a geopolitical power. Enlargement and deeper integration are increasingly framed as instruments to achieve EU geopolitical goals. Since 2019, EU leaders have embraced the language of power and strategy, a shift accelerated by Russia’s full-scale […]
Veronica Anghel
Veronica Anghel works at the intersection of comparative politics and international relations. She studies European integration and enlargement at the nexus between security-building and democratization. Anghel is assistant professor at the EUI Robert Schuman Centre a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University – School of Advanced International Studies, where she teaches courses on Risk in International Relations […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2024). Three Lessons From the 2004 “Big Bang” Enlargement. Politics and Governance, 12, Article 8358.
Abstract: The 2004 “Big Bang” enlargement was a powerful reminder that European integration is an instrument for peace and not just prosperity. The pace of that enlargement depended more on the requirements for stability than on the transformation of the candidate countries. It was also a reminder of the importance of forward-looking analysis. Candidates might […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2024). What Went Wrong In Hungary. Journal of Democracy 35(2), 52-64.
Abstract: Why did Hungarian democracy have a harder time developing and rooting itself than democracy in other countries? The answer lies in the overlapping institutions and incentives that create democratic resilience. Hungary’s political elites never finished their constitutional transition from communism to democracy by agreeing on a new democratic constitution. The 1998 elections polarized Hungarian […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2024). The enlargement of international organisations. West European Politics, 48(1), 1–28.
Abstract: Scholars tend to study international organisations as selective clubs. Theorising organisations as clubs, however, obscures an important aspect of their evolution that is connected to the goods they produce. Some organisations produce goods that are increasingly attractive and accessible to non-members. Those organisations face pressures to enlarge beyond the optimal size suggested by club […]
Anghel, V. (2024, February). From Copenhagen to Kyiv: Rule of Law under Martial Law. In How Can an Enlarging EU Best Protect Rule of Law and Democracy (pp. 1–2). Brussels: TEPSA.
The European Union’s (EU) mechanisms for protecting the democratic rule of law are procedural, economic, and political. Legal and political science scholars have documented how the EU underused these mechanisms in its struggle with autocratising Member States and candidate countries. Autocratising EU Member States have dispelled the deterrence function of Article 7 of the Treaty […]
Anghel, V., et al. (2023). ‘The Future of EU Enlargement: Obstacles and Opportunities.’ Brussels Sprouts Podcast (Washington, D.C.: CNAS, 22 December).
At last week’s European Council summit, EU heads of state and government agreed to begin accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova as well as to grant candidate status to Georgia. These historic decisions demonstrate the new momentum in the European Union’s enlargement process following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has forced the bloc to think […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2023). Broken promises diplomacy: The Russia-Ukraine war and the end of enlargement as we know it. In J. Džankić, S. Kacarska, & S. Keil (Eds.), A year later: War in Ukraine and Western Balkan (geo)politics (pp. 6–14). European University Institute.
Among its many other tragic effects, the Russia-Ukraine war has complicated life for the countries of the Western Balkans. The European Union’s reaction to the war included the revival of a rhetoric supportive of enlargement to the Western Balkans, in addition to financial aid to weather the energy crisis. The European Council has even granted […]
Anghel, V. (2023). ‘Will Ukraine Rid Europe of Its Colonial Mindset?’ Vox Europe (3 August).
Europe’s response to Russian aggression rejects colonial power dynamics and includes financial, political and military support. The outcome of Ukraine’s struggle will shape Europe’s post-colonial future, says Romanian political scientist Veronica Anghel in her contribution to the “Lessons of War. The Rebirth of Europe Revisited” series. Read more
Anghel, V., & Džankić, J. (2023). Wartime EU: consequences of the Russia – Ukraine war on the enlargement process. Journal of European Integration, 45(3), 487–501.
Abstract: The European Union (EU) revived the enlargement process in response to the Russia-Ukraine war. That reaction compares to how the EU utilized this process following the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. In this paper, we argue that on neither occasion was the inclusion of more states within EU borders a preferred EU […]