EU Awareness Centre at KAS–SWP Panel discussions
On 13 July 2026, Dr George Robakidze, Executive Director of the EU Awareness Centre, attended the high-level panel discussion “EU Enlargement: Ukraine as a Special Case – the Western Balkans as the Norm?”, held at the Europe Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) in Brussels.
The event examined how Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has reshaped the strategic calculus of EU enlargement and its role for European security. While the formal criteria for accession remain unchanged, the political will to accelerate the process has grown, raising renewed questions about the pace, sequencing, and ultimate shape of a wider European Union — including whether the Union should treat Ukraine as a “special case” while regarding the Western Balkans and Moldova as the “standard”, and which internal reforms are needed to ensure the Union emerges strengthened.
The discussion opened with an impulse by Gunther Krichbaum, Minister of State for European Affairs at the German Federal Foreign Office. The subsequent panel brought together Michael Gahler, Member of the European Parliament (EPP) and Rapporteur on Ukraine, Dr Barbara Lippert, Director of Research at SWP and other high-ranking guests.
On the margins of the event, Dr Robakidze had the opportunity to exchange views with Michael Gahler, Member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party and a long-standing supporter of Georgia’s European aspirations. The discussion considered the broader trajectory of EU enlargement and, more specifically, the conditions under which Georgia might resume its path towards European integration. In this regard, both interlocutors underscored that the country’s European prospects ultimately rest on the democratic will of its citizens, and that a renewed integration process would follow from a change of the political situation in Georgia. MEP Gahler reaffirmed his continued commitment to Georgia’s European future and to the country’s democratic civil society.
The EU Awareness Centre extends its sincere thanks to the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs for convening this timely discussion and for sustaining a space in which the enlargement debate remains present and active in Brussels.
