Vienna – ESI at ECFR Annual Council Meeting

18 June 2026
ECFR Annual Council Meeting. Photo: ECFR
ECFR Annual Council Meeting. Photo: ECFR

ESI’s Gerald Knaus discussed the future of EU enlargement during the European Council on Foreign Relations’ (ECFR) Annual Council Meeting in Vienna. There, he spoke on the panel “EU Enlargement: Confront the Right Within or Contain the Right Beyond?” Joining Gerald on the panel were Pernille Rieker, research professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Volodymyr Yermolenko, President of PEN Ukraine.

On the panel, Gerald made the argument that Europe today is facing more pressure today from the authoritarian far-right than it has at any point since the end of the Cold War. He noted the miraculous peace which has prevailed in Europe is under active assault by both the domestic far-right and from an imperialist Russia. Defending this peace and rejecting authoritarianism requires active consolidation within Europe. This includes encouraging and promoting further integration in the West Balkans – for which ESI has developed a workable, pragmatic plan to offer Balkan countries market integration in return for reform. It also includes strengthening the rule-of-law in fields such as migration, also a field of ESI expertise.

Gerald noted that consolidation within the EU will lead to containment of threats beyond. A strong integrated Europe can better assist Ukraine in resisting Russia’s full-scale invasion. A strong integrated Europe will also be better able to resist the xenophobic, illiberal, far-right authoritarian movements targeting Europe from both Russia and America. Gerald warned that open support from Putin and MAGA for Europe's far right is about to pay off, with these parties gaining ground in France, Germany and elsewhere. Gerald concluded we must abandon the assumption that Europe’s miraculous peace and prosperity has been good luck; instead, it has been the result of good policy by determined visionaries with the strong support of European civil society. Countering this threat will require Europeans of every background to get involved again in building, strengthening and expanding the European Union.