01742nam a22001457a 4500999001900000008004100019100002600060245010000086260003300186300003400219520119400253773003301447942000701480952010901487  c533731d533731260612b           ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aBorocz, Jozsef961235  aWill the European union absorb its poorest eastern and South-Eastern neighbours, and what then?  aEconomic & Political Weekly   a61(20), May 16, 2026: p.51-60  aAs 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
  aEconomic & Political Weekly   cAR  00102ddc40709408910aIIPAbIIPAd2026-06-12h61(20), May 16, 2026: p.51-60pAR139203r2026-06-12yAR