---
title: "European Parliament briefing on EU enlargement Western Balkans and Eastern Trio; shift from security recipients to contributors"
sdDatePublished: "2026-09-03T11:08:00Z"
source: "https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2026)774737"
topics:
  - name: "international relations"
    identifier: "medtop:20000638"
locations:
  - "Russia"
  - "Georgia"
  - "Moldova"
  - "Ukraine"
---


European Parliament briefing on EU enlargement Western Balkans and Eastern Trio; shift from security recipients to contributors

Paving the way to EU enlargement: Assessing potential implications on security and defence | Think Tank | European Parliament

Paving the way to EU enlargement: Assessing potential implications on security and defence

Security and defence have become central to the EU enlargement process, in the wake of Russia's war against Ukraine and the subsequent geopolitical uncertainty in the EU's neighbourhood. This briefing examines how candidate and potential candidate countries in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Trio (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) are aligning with the EU's common foreign and security policy and boosting their defence capabilities. It explores trends in defence spending, the development of defence industrial capacity (including cyber defence), defence cooperation, the modernisation of their armed forces, and participation in EU missions. Most enlargement countries are increasingly shifting from being security recipients to also becoming security contributors.

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