Europe faces pressure not only from Russia but from MAGA ideologues in the West who are trying to convince Europeans that their civilisation, economy and democracy are in decline, the European Union's enlargement chief Marta Kos said on September 8.

"Our adversaries … clearly, Russia is one of them," Kos said at an event organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels. "But we also feel pressure from the West, from the MAGA ideologists who try to persuade us that our European civilisation is in a decline, that our economy is in decline and that we don't have the right democracy.”

Kos, the European Commission's commissioner for enlargement, was speaking as the EU seeks to accelerate its expansion into the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe, with Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova among countries seeking to join the bloc.

She said Russia was actively seeking to disrupt the enlargement process, while China was taking a different approach, seeking to position itself to benefit economically once candidate countries become EU members.

"China is a different case," Kos said. "When I speak about the enlargement, there are two different approaches from Russia and China."

"Russia is trying to disturb us, to prevent candidates becoming a member of the EU," she said.

Kos gave the example Montenegro, where she said cyberattacks and disinformation had increased after the EU announced that it had begun preparing the country's accession treaty.

"We have seen, for instance, one day after we announced that we started to prepare the accession treaty for Montenegro, the number of cyberattacks went up and the disinformation has strengthened," she said.

China, by contrast, is "somehow nestling in our candidates", Kos said, waiting for countries to join the EU so that Chinese companies could gain access to the bloc's single market.

"Once they are in the EU their companies will be part of the common market," she said. "So they are doing it differently and we don't see for the time being this kind of disinformation on their part."

Enlargement enters a new phase

Kos said 2026 was on course to become a record year for EU enlargement, with the bloc having achieved more progress in the first eight months than in any previous year over the past quarter-century. Several candidate countries could complete accession negotiations by the end of the decade.

"The closest comparison is the late 1990s when the countries of Central and Eastern Europe were getting ready for EU membership," Kos said.

Slovenia, where Kos was born, was among those countries and its experience demonstrated the economic potential of membership, she said.

"The years that followed would turn into a remarkable economic success story," she said. "Many of us tripled our economies in two decades of EU membership. The recipe that made this success possible is unchanged."

Kos pointed to IMF research on the potential economic gains from further enlargement, saying that EU membership could significantly raise living standards in the Western Balkans and Moldova while also benefiting countries that are already members.

"For Moldova and the Western Balkans, EU membership could lead to a 47% increase in GDP per capita in 15 years," she said. "These benefits are not limited to future members. Current EU members could see gains of 13%."

The figures underline the economic case for enlargement at a time when Europe is seeking to boost growth and productivity while strengthening its position against geopolitical competitors.

Kos also highlighted Ukraine, whose potential economic transformation after accession could be particularly significant.

"While the methodology of this study could not account for Ukraine, I have no doubt that if we deliver on EU accession reforms, Ukraine will become one of the most dynamic investment markets in the world, bringing jobs, growth, and long-term stability for Europe as a whole," she said.

New geopolitical risks

The commissioner said the economic environment facing prospective EU members was very different from that of the previous major enlargement rounds.

"We know this recipe of reforms and investments works because we have used it before," she said. "But the world in which we are now applying it has changed quite a lot."

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, "the dominant economic logic was openness", Kos said.

"Today we see the weaponisation of dependencies, the use of tariffs or of export restrictions on raw materials and technologies for political pressure," she added.

That meant the EU needed to rethink how it integrated countries that were moving towards membership, particularly those whose accession negotiations were likely to take longer.

The EU should ensure that candidate countries do not become locked into economic dependencies that could later undermine the bloc's strategic interests, she argued.

"The decisions being taken today will determine what Europe looks like 10 or 20 years from now," Kos said.

"We should not risk our future members building dependencies on others that run counter to our long-term interests … And for the first time in history, we have adversaries in the enlargement process," Kos said.

Europe must use its economic potential

Kos said the uncertain geopolitical environment made strengthening Europe's economy and internal market even more important.

"The environment within which people find themselves is more confusing than it was in 2004," she said, referring to the year when the EU admitted 10 new members in its biggest enlargement. "But that is exactly why there has to be very strong focus on strengthening Europe.”