EU Enlargement Vote: Parliament Reaffirms Ukraine and Western Balkans Accession Path

MEPs vote in the March 25-26 plenary on an enlargement strategy report calling for credible timelines and genuine conditionality for all candidate countries.

EU Parliament Enlargement Vote: Europe Reaffirms Its Open Door — With Conditions

The European Parliament voted during its March 25-26, 2026 plenary session in Brussels on the enlargement strategy report prepared by Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius, formally reaffirming the EU's commitment to the accession process while calling for more credible timelines, stronger conditionality, and genuine political will to complete the enlargement agenda within a realistic timeframe. The vote came at a moment when the strategic imperative of enlargement — especially for Ukraine — has rarely seemed more urgent, given the ongoing war and the visible need to anchor neighbouring democracies firmly within European institutions.

The report, which passed with a broad majority spanning centrist and progressive groups, made several concrete demands: that the Commission open additional negotiating chapters with Ukraine and Moldova, that the Western Balkans process be revitalised with specific membership target dates, that Serbia's lack of sanctions alignment with Russia be formally registered as a compliance issue, and that Kosovo's European perspective be clarified rather than left in perpetual ambiguity. The document also called for enlargement to be adequately financed — acknowledging implicitly that adding 10 or more new member states will require either a larger EU budget or significant reform of existing spending programmes.