New kids on the block? New actors and patterns of contestation of the New Eastern Enlargement in Polish public sphere

With the EU decision to offer a candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova and then to accelerate the opening of the accession negotiations, Poland's long-lasting policy preference on EU enlargement was fulfilled (despite the dramatic context of Russian aggression that contributed to these decisions). It was welcomed with satisfaction by mainstream political actors in Poland, and the country became one of the main promoters of the New Eastern Enlargement. Yet, as in Aesop’s Fable “Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true!”, the actors opposing or warning against enlargement started loudly contesting the candidate countries and the enlargement process, joining the loud opponents in other EU member states. The paper analyses the emerging patterns of contestation in Poland regarding EU enlargement to Ukraine and Moldova in the current changing geopolitical context. Through an analysis of Polish parliamentary debates, the paper uncovers politicised aspects of Eastern European states’ EU accession process, explores factors contributing to its politicisation and new actors that are active, examines justifications used for contestation of EU enlargement, and attempts to capture broader dynamics of contestation of European integration. Special attention is paid to the security frames capturing the growing geopolitical tensions since these serve as a litmus test for increasing contention. Adopting the empirical discourse-oriented perspective, the paper employs qualitative discourse analysis to examine parliamentary speeches concerning the Eastern Partnership and European integration of Ukraine and Moldova between 2013 and 2025. Our findings demonstrate that the New Eastern Enlargement in Poland is contested and politicised as part of the generally polarised debate on European integration and that new actors are becoming more vocal.