Enlargement Hub

Training

Jean-Monnet Module ADVANCE-EUiUA

“Past and Present of EU Enlargement and Ukraine’s Integration”

ADVANCE–EUiUA is a three-year Jean Monnet Module in contemporary European Union studies dedicated to examining EU enlargement, differentiated integration, and Ukraine’s path toward EU accession. The module brings together advanced MA and doctoral students from Ukrainian universities participating in the CEU Invisible University for Ukraine (IUFU) initiative, alongside internationally diverse students at the Central European University and CIVICA partner universities.

The CEU Invisible University for Ukraine (IUFU) is a certificate program designed to support young scholars from Ukraine by addressing educational disruptions, strengthening academic capacity, and deepening ties between Ukrainian institutions and transnational research networks. ADVANCE–EUiUA contributes to this mission by offering high-quality, research-led EU studies education in an accessible and innovative format.

By fostering academic excellence, policy relevance, and international collaboration, ADVANCE–EUiUA strengthens the intellectual foundations for Ukraine’s European integration and contributes to a deeper understanding of the EU’s evolving enlargement process.

ADVANCE–EUiUA is coordinated by Dr. Inna Melnykovska and Prof. Dr. Laszlo Bruszt.

Structure and Format

To ensure full participation from Ukraine, all courses are delivered online and complemented by annual hybrid summer workshops in Budapest. These workshops combine academic training with public engagement, featuring guest lectures by leading EU scholars and roundtables with EU policymakers and national negotiators. In addition to substantive knowledge, students develop methodological expertise, research communication skills, policy advising capacities, and negotiation competences.

Academic Focus

The module disseminates knowledge on lessons learned from previous EU enlargements and applies them to today’s geopolitically driven enlargement context and internal EU reforms.

Particular attention is given to:

  • Political dynamics within EU institutions
  • Interactions between EU member states, partner states, and accession countries
  • The evolving relationship between the EU and Ukraine

By combining interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives, the module addresses themes that remain underrepresented in teaching and research in and on Ukraine.

New Courses

ADVANCE–EUiUA introduces three new, research-informed courses:

  • EU Enlargement: Lessons Learned from Pre- and Post-Experiences in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans
  • Differentiated Modes of EU Non-Membership Cooperation: Lessons Learned for EU Differentiated Integration
  • Negotiating Ukraine’s EU Accession

These courses integrate cutting-edge academic research, policy analysis, and innovative digital teaching methods tailored for effective online learning.

Coordinators

Dr. Inna Melnykovska, European University Institute is a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute’s Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin in 2016 and previously studied International Relations and Economics in Ukraine.

Inna’s research examines the interaction of global, regional, and local forces in shaping modern political regimes and economic systems in developing countries, with a particular focus on Eastern Europe and Eurasia. She is an expert on state–business relations and crony capitalism in the region. Her work also explores EU-, Russia-, and China-driven regional economic integration initiatives as well as foreign policy dynamics in Eurasia. Her research has been published in Journal of Common Market Studies, Europe-Asia Studies, and Post-Soviet Affairs, among others.

In addition to her research profile, Inna is an award-nominated and highly evaluated university teacher with extensive experience at BA, MA, and PhD levels. She has designed and taught courses in political economy, EU governance, geopolitics, qualitative and mixed methods, and regional studies. Her teaching philosophy is grounded in student-centred deep learning and research-led instruction, combining theoretical rigor with hands-on application through case studies, simulations, process-tracing exercises, interview labs, and policy-oriented assignments. Her courses are known for their methodological pluralism, interactive format, and strong mentorship component, consistently enabling students to develop advanced analytical, research design, and professional skills relevant for academia, policy, and international organizations.

Prof. Dr. Laszlo Bruszt, CEU Democracy Institute is Professor Emeritus of CEU, Founding Co-Director and Director of CEU Democracy Institute between 2020 and 2025. He started to teach at CEU in 1992 and has served as its Acting Rector and President in 1996/97. Between 2004 and 2016 he was teaching at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. His publications focus on issues of regime change and economic transformation. His more recent studies deal with the politics of economic integration of the Eastern and Southern peripheries of Europe. He serves as the Program Director of the Global Forum on Democracy and Development and leads the Enlargement Hub.

EU Integration Dialogues: The Ukraine Edition is a podcast series dedicated to debates on EU enlargement, differentiated integration, and Ukraine’s path toward EU accession. It is a product of the ADVANCE EUiUA project, aimed at disseminating knowledge about lessons learned from past EU enlargements and addressing political dynamics within EU institutions, member and partner states, and their relationships with accession countries, focusing on Ukraine. Hosted by Inna Melnykovska (European University Institute, EUI) and Marta Beska (CEU Invisible University for Ukraine, IUFU).

Episode 1 (Feb 24, 2026)

In this episode, with our guests — Erik Jones, Director and Professor of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advance Studies, at the European University Institute (EUI) and Veronica Anghel, Assistant Professor of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advance Studies, at the European University Institute — we discuss the key outcomes of the Munich Security Conference 2026 and assess what they signal for Ukraine’s security, Europe’s strategic autonomy, and the future of transatlantic cooperation. 

From defence commitments and enlargement debates to shifting geopolitical dynamics, we explore how Munich’s messages translate into concrete policy choices and what do these developments mean for Ukraine’s European path and the resilience of the Euro-Atlantic alliance.

Episode 2 (March 20 2026)

Built Under Fire, Hitting Bureaucratic Walls: Ukrainian Defence Tech and the Strategic Autonomy Test of EU Enlargement  

This episode discusses the development and integration of Ukraine’s defence tech sector — built from near zero under wartime conditions, now comprising over 2,300 companies with frontline-tested technology and an innovation cycle measured in days — which has become the most concrete test case for whether the EU can operationalize the merger of its developmental and security imperatives in enlargement. European strategic autonomy cannot be serious without integrating the most combat-proven defence innovation ecosystem in the world. Whether the governance of a shared European defence upgrade, across institutions, member states, industry, and civil society, can move at the speed the moment demands or whether institutional barriers, outdated perceptions, and fragmented political will break the integration of Ukrainian defence innovation into European security architecture — is no longer an abstract policy question.  

Guests:  

  • Mattia Nelles, co-founder and executive director of the German-Ukrainian Bureau (DUB), a think-and-do tank running a DefTech programme focused on strategic and practical learnings from Russia’s war against Ukraine for Europe 
  • Ihor Masiakin, researcher at the CEU Democracy Institute, whose field research with Ukrainian defence tech companies and military units informs the episode’s empirical core.

Course: EU Enlargement and Transformation in Times of Crisis: Lessons Learned from Pre- and Post-Experiences in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans

Course Directors: Inna Melnykovska, European University Institute and
Laszlo Bruszt, CEU Democracy Institute

Preliminary syllabus

Course description:

The European Union’s renewed commitment to enlargement marks a decisive moment in the reconfiguration of Europe’s political order. Triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU’s decision to advance accession processes with Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans has reopened fundamental scholarly and policy questions: Can enlargement still function as a transformative instrument under conditions of geopolitical rivalries, war and democratic backsliding? How do emergency-driven, ad hoc instruments reshape the Union’s established enlargement logic, and what are the implications for EU internal reforms?

This research seminar invites participants to engage critically with the evolving political economy and governance of EU enlargement. Building comparative insights from previous waves in Central and Eastern Europe and ongoing processes in the Western Balkans, participants will explore how conventional tools – conditionality, benchmarking, acquis adoption – are increasingly complemented or substituted by context-specific mechanisms such as phased  integration, reconstruction-linked assistance, and security-oriented pre-accession frameworks.

Key themes include:

  • The theoretical rethinking of enlargement as a process of mutual transformation between the EU and candidate states;
  • The interaction between geopolitical pressures, institutional constraints, and normative commitments in shaping enlargement strategies;
  • The political economy of EU support for wartime and post-war reconstruction in Ukraine;
  • The interplay between enlargement and internal EU reforms, including decision-making, budgetary solidarity, and rule-of-law mechanisms;
  • The comparative experiences of the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries as laboratories for policy innovation and institutional adaptation.

The seminar emphasizes research design and methodological pluralism. Students will develop and present their own research projects addressing contemporary policy challenges, drawing on both qualitative and quantitative approaches, from process tracing and discourse analysis to network and institutional modeling.  Interventions from EU policymakers and practitioners will complement academic discussions, linking theoretical inquiry to real-world governance dilemmas.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the seminar, participants will have advanced their capacity to formulate original research questions, situate them within broader scholarly debates on European integration, and contribute empirically grounded insights into how enlargement is  redefining the EU’s identity, boundaries, and global role in times of crisis.

Learning activities and teaching formats:

The seminar combines thematic lectures, research-focused discussion seminars, and a summer school with policymakers and scholars. This structure allows students to engage with both theoretical debates and applied policy perspectives, encouraging dialogue between academic research and practice.

This course begins with two components: lectures and seminars. Lectures will be given by the course directors, scholars participating in the Enlargement Hub and other invited guest speakers from the EU and Ukraine, who are usually experts or practitioners in the topic of the week. Lectures will be interactive, involving round-table conversations with the guests and discussions with students.  The seminars’ main goals will be to discuss the concepts, arguments, follow-up questions, etc. brought up in the lectures and critically reflect on the reading(s) assigned for the week. To facilitate participation, students are requested to cover core English-language readings before seminars. A larger  selection of readings is offered, covering topics from the perspectives of political science, political economy, and law.

The course finishes with the summer school taking place at the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest and online. The summer school will give  participants the opportunity to present and receive feedback on their research projects (proposal, chapter or paper) from senior scholars in their fields; as well as improve their methodological, writing, etc. skills.

Overview of lectures – for summaries and recordings, please click here

  1. March 30, 2026, The Challenges of Studying Ukraine’s EU Integration. Lecturers: Laszlo Bruszt (CEU Democracy Institute);  Ivan Nagornyak (NGO Easybusiness, Ukraine) – Find out more
  2. April 20, 2026, Digital Public Services on the Road to the EU: Tilting the Playing Field for Ukrainian Businesses and Its Social Costs. Lecturers: Dora Piroska (CEU) (Vienna); Ihor Moshenets (CEU Vienna/Vienna University of Economics and Business). – Find out more
  3. April 27, 2026, Agri-Food Sector – Between Market Access and Exclusion. Lecturers: Julia Langbein, Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) (Berlin); Oleg Nivievskyi, Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). – Find out more
  4. May 4, 2026, Enhancing EU Connectivity In Times of War and Geopolitics. Lecturers: Iryna Kosse, Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER), Kyiv; Mihai Varga, Institute of East European Studies, Free University Berlin (Berlin). – Find out more
  5. May 11, 2026. IFIs and Development Banks in the Enlargement Process. Ukraine Facility. Lecturers: Matthias Thiemann (Sciences Po, Paris) and Maria Repko (Centre for Economic Strategy, Kyiv). – Find out more
  6. May 18, 2026, Ukraine’s Critical Minerals Potential & EU Strategic Autonomy. Lecturers: Luuk Schmitz, Senior Researcher, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG); Ielyzaveta Badanova, Researcher, Department of Law, European University – Find out more
  7. June 1, 2026, Accession as Transformation: EU Finance, Conditionality, and Local Governance Capacity in Ukraine. Lecturers: Inna Melnykovska, Jean Monnet Fellow, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute (EUI); Anna Kornyliuk, Associate Professor, Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) – Find out more
  8. June 8, 2026, The Integration of Ukraine and EU’s Future. Lecturers: Veronica Anghel, Assistant Professor, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute (EUI); Erik Jones, Director, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute (EUI) – Find out more

Overview of Seminars (preliminary)

  1. April 23, 2026, Drivers and Obstacles in Europeanization: Contrasting Theoretical Approaches; by Inna Melnykovska, European University Institute
  2. April 28, 2026, Concepts and Concept Building in EU integration and enlargement research; by Inna Melnykovska, European University Institute
  3. May 14, 2026, Grasping EU Effects: Methods and Data; by Inna Melnykovska, European University Institute

Summer School

Planned for July 2026 in a hybrid mode at the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest. More information to follow.

EU flag and a sign: Co-funded by the European Union

Jean-Monnet Module ADVANCE-EUiUA “Past and Present of EU Enlargement and Ukraine’s Integration” is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.