Introduction: Slovenia and the European Union—Twenty Years of Membership in Perspective

The European Union (EU) requires a robust discussion on reforming its enlargement policy. Additionally, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has fundamentally altered the context of EU enlargement policy and the functioning of the Union, reintroducing geopolitics to the forefront. Russia’s neo-imperial control tactics in the former Soviet Union countries, employing various methods from economic and political coercion to disinformation campaigns, election meddling, cyber-attacks, and even military aggression, leave governments, particularly those in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood and Western Balkans, vulnerable. This challenges the core principles of a rules-based international order and fundamentally questions EU values. It could also impact their reliance on geopolitical actors such as China, Turkey, and the Western powers.