Debordering and Rebordering in EU Enlargement: Identity and Policy Shifts in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans After 2022

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has posed a substantial challenge to the European Union's strategy and enlargement policy, disrupting Europe’s post-Cold War order. Despite these disruptions, the EU’s historical engagement with Western Balkan, Eastern European, and South Caucasus candidate states has centred on fostering stability, peace, and economic integration through structured reforms and strengthened diplomatic ties. Since February 2022, however, shifts in EU-candidate state relations shows an evolving approach to EU policies, influenced by a nuanced process of debordering and rebordering that reflects new geopolitical realities. This study draws on critical border studies, which understand bordering as a dynamic and fluid process tied to identity formation and the (re-)definition of the self and the other. Through a comparative analysis of bordering discourses and practices, this paper explores how the EU’s approaches to these regions—historically guided by distinct policies—are now intersecting following the candidacy of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. The comparison highlights material and symbolic practices of bordering within the EU framework, ultimately contributing to a deeper understanding of the complex and evolving relationship between the EU and candidate states in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and the Western Balkans.