01623nam a22001337a 4500 533731 533731 260612b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Borocz, Jozsef 61235 Will the European union absorb its poorest eastern and South-Eastern neighbours, and what then? Economic & Political Weekly 61(20), May 16, 2026: p.51-60 As of early 2026, discussions on Ukraine’s prospective membership dominate international coverage of the European Union’s evolving borders. That is somewhat peculiar, given that the website of the European Commission lists1 as many as 10 countries as “candidates for membership.” With the exception of Türkiye—whose accession remains politically unlikely—the remaining candidates emerged from the disintegration of the former socialist bloc and exhibit substantially lower per capita incomes than any state previously admitted to the EU. The largest and poorest among them is war-torn Ukraine. This paper reviews the historical trajectory of the EU’s enlargements using data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators. Drawing on conceptual tools from world systems analysis, it assesses the economic feasibility and political willingness of the EU to address the development challenges associated with further enlargement. The study also evaluates the likely forms of integration that may emerge between the EU and its current candidate countries.- Reproduced https://www.epw.in/journal/special-articles/will-european-union-absorb-its-poorest-eastern-and.html Economic & Political Weekly AR 0 0 ddc 0 0 408910 IIPA IIPA 2026-06-12 61(20), May 16, 2026: p.51-60 AR139203 2026-06-12 AR