Talk:Future enlargement of the European Union

Georgia - Negotiations frozen?

So, what do we do about Georgia, after today's news? See here and here. Xolani (talk) 21:29, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

"Halting" is a very ambiguous term. It does not mean that Georgia's candidacy has been officially revoked. From what I understand, its more of a "pause" until Georgia repeals the "foreign influence" law. Once that precondition is met, negotiations may begin. For now, its best to wait and see what more comes of this rather than any editor making WP:CRYSTAL speculations. Cheers, Archives908 (talk) 01:13, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

Also, with the 2024 Georgian parliamentary elections around the corner, its projected that a Pro-EU gov't will replace Georgian Dream and subsequently repeal the law. Archives908 (talk) 01:25, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

What was the criteria to change the status of Turkey's accession negotiations? I was wondering whether Georgia is at the same point as Turkey, right now. Xolani (talk) 16:36, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

Far from it, actually. The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour to suspend negotiations with Turkey, since then no new chapters have been opened or closed. Georgia's current position is nowhere similar to that of Turkey's. For one, Georgia hasn't even started negotiations, and like I said above, their candidacy isn't officially suspended, it's more of a "pause". Archives908 (talk) 18:26, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

In that case, it might make sense to change the text in the "Next step" column of the "Summary table" for Georgia to read the following:

«The European Commission needs to recommend starting negotiations, which is conditional on the withdrawal of the "Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence" passed by the Georgian Parliament on 14 May 2024.»

What do you think? 185.17.48.189 (talk) 10:00, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

On 28 November 2024, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia's EU accession negotiations have been suspended until the end of 2028. Makejets 14:23, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

And? They are still an EU candidate. Their candidacy status has not been revoked. Archives908 (talk) 14:46, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, updated. CMD (talk) 08:27, 30 November 2024 (UTC)

I believe we need a clarification here; the EU Council has sadly and officially halted/paused/suspended the Georgian accession, so their candidacy is not 'active'. We can at least agree on that.83.9.35.43 (talk) 12:02, 6 January 2025 (UTC)

Zero chapters were opened- therefore they can not be "halted". There is nothing to "halt" in terms of the negotiations. Georgia still maintains EU candidate status, with the government setting their accession target date between 2028 and 2030. Georgia's candidate status has not been formally revoked as of yet. Archives908 (talk) 14:53, 6 January 2025 (UTC)

I agree with Archives908. The EU Council did not do anything to suspend Georgia's candidate status, but simply stated the obvious fact, that for as long as Georgia backslides away on the expected reform program they are causing a de facto halt to achieve further progress of their application process. The EU door for negotiations to open and begin with Georgia, can still be entered at any point of time the Georgian government decides to fulfill the merit-based requirements for this to happen. The two points below are citations of the exact statements made by the European Council about this matter:

Danish Expert (talk) 20:54, 6 January 2025 (UTC)

Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad should be mentioned, especially because the Kaliningrad question exists 2001:A62:15FE:2F02:151C:5C8D:AB4:438E (talk) 22:28, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

This is WP:CRYSTAL. Archives908 (talk) 16:36, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

What makes mentioning Russia not Crystal then? 2001:A62:15FE:2F02:DD7B:7E0E:7355:D39F (talk) 22:05, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

A significant amount of WP:RS would be needed. Archives908 (talk) 22:55, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

Belarus and Russia

In the section "States not on the agenda" both Russia and Belarus don't have the color on the map of "Membership possible" but as "Countries located (at least partially) in Europe". Is at least Belarus not a possible member? And since Russia is located partially in Europe, also not a possible member state? — Preceding unsigned comment added by ΨΨΨ (talk • contribs)

This was discussed at length here. Basically, no EU institution has ever said that Russia and Belarus could join the EU, unlike, for example, the United Kingdom, Norway, or, more recently, Armenia. Colouring them as “Membership possible” would be original research. Brainiac242 (talk) 17:52, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. And don't know how to sign; apologies.

However, somewhere in the EU treaty texts, there is the statement that every European country can become a member state. This at least include Belarus and possibly even Russia. ΨΨΨ (talk) 20:09, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

According to Article 49 of the Maastricht Treaty, not every European country, but any European country. Any European country “which respects the values referred to in Article 2 and is committed to promoting them”. Values like democracy and the rule of law, which Russia and Belarus definitely don’t respect. Also, what constitutes a European country for this purpose is up to the European Council, that’s why Cyprus is a member state even though it is geographically in Asia.

Countries in orange are recognized by the EU institutions as democratic European countries that could, therefore, start the process to join the EU. Russia and Belarus might be democratic eventually, but they might not. The European Council might officially recognize Russia as a European country, but it might not. So, their membership might be possible eventually, but so far, it’s not.

As for signing, see WP:Signatures. Brainiac242 (talk) 21:59, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

That's not entirely true. Countries have to meet Article 49 requirements in order to be considered a candidate. This is usually presented as a motion which the European Parliament must adopt. Morocco was outright rejected. Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and most recently Armenia all have had their Article 49 requirements confirmed by overwhelming majority votes in parliament. While Russia and Belarus are indeed geographically in Europe (and have the right to apply in the future), there is currently no bill which has been either passed or rejected in regards to either of these countries meeting Article 49 requirements. Hope that clears it up for you! Archives908 (talk) 22:03, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

Turkey and Armenia

@Juansher The Great. Please discuss your proposed edits to this page instead of reverting to your preferred version. We run a consensus-based operation here. I can see adding Armenia as a potential candidate, but there are a lot of potential candidates. I think it's best if we wait till they apply. Furthermore, I don't see what the point in removing Turkey's frozen status. The topic has come up here before and just because there isn't a specific constitutional provision called negotiation "freezing", doesn't mean that it isn't de facto Turkey's status. The Savage Norwegian 22:10, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

I agree with you about Turkey, however, the Armenian Parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill today giving the green light to launch the EU accession process (see this). Which means that pursuing EU membership is now law in the country. Its time the map is updated for Armenia to be shown as a potential candidate given this major development today. Archives908 (talk) 02:59, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

Armenia is already on the potential candidates map, although the body text does need updating. CMD (talk) 07:36, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

"Potential candidate" is a formal term used by the EU to designate states that the Council has recognized have a membership perspective, but are not yet ready for candidate status. The EU parliament's resolution was advisory in nature, and so is largely symbolic. This was the conclusion for example in response to Georgia's membership application , versus Ukraine and Moldova who were granted candidate status immediately. Recognized potential candidates are listed here: .

Armenia has now clearly stated that EU membership is its goal, but that position is unilateral as the EU hasn't formally acknowledged them as a potential candidate. Therefore, we should wait until the Council officially concludes that Armenia has a membership perspective before referring to them as a potential candidate.

However, perhaps we should create a new category/colour for states that have declared that EU membership is their goal, and are pending a EU response. TDL (talk) 17:28, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Canada and other areas

Clearly, we're in a bold, revert, discuss cycle, over whether to even have a section for Canada, or not. Pinging Brainiac242 (talk · contribs) and Devkimnol (talk · contribs). ♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 21:54, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

@Brainiac242

At no point has the European Commission ever made mention or illusion to membership for Canada, whereas Armenia has been explicitly deemed eligible for membership, and Cyprus is a member.

There is no possibility Canada is joining the European Union in its current form, so let’s put them in a small section with other remote possibilities for non European states as is done with Israel and Cape Verde as a footnote.

Otherwise why not add the USA, Australia, all of Latin America, and Morocco to the info box as well. There is no universal geographical definition of Europe anyway but we should try to be sensible.

It is my view that the article should make an attempt to be grounded in reality as opposed to being an alternative reality wish list. Devkimnol (talk) 23:19, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

@Devkimnol: There is no possibility Canada is joining the European Union in its current form

Why not? Because it’s not geographically in Europe? As I said in the edit summary, Cyprus and Armenia are entirely located in West Asia, and, as you said above, “Armenia has been explicitly deemed eligible for membership, and Cyprus is a member”. This isn’t because “there is no universal geographical definition of Europe”; it’s because whether a country is “European” enough to join the EU is subject to political assessment by the European Commission, Council, and Parliament, and they consider cultural and political factors as well as geographic ones.

I’m not arguing Canada should definitely be included in this table; just that we can’t dismiss the possibility of Canada joining the EU simply because of its geographic location.

The table itself seems rather inconsistent. Why are Russia and Belarus included, but not Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan? Why is San Marino, but not Andorra or Liechtenstein? I see two ways the table could be used:

We include every country whose possible EU membership has been widely discussed by the media, or politicians, or through opinion polls… This would include Canada, but not the US, or Australia, or all of Latin America.
We simply include those states that have been “explicitly deemed eligible for membership”, and list the rest at the “Other proposals” section. This would only include Armenia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Brainiac242 (talk) 03:00, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

@Devkimnol: I’m waiting for your reply. Brainiac242 (talk) 04:46, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Western Balkans Section Graphic

Is there any reason that the graphic doesn't show a year for north macedonia? I might be missing a geopolitical issue or something, sorry if that is the case

Thanks, JordyGrey _talk🧸 00:38, 24 April 2026 (UTC)