The EPP Group warned on Wednesday that countries aspiring to European Union membership cannot continue doing business as usual with a warmongering regime.

EPP Group Vice-Chairs, MEPs Rasa Jukneviciene and Paulo Rangel said that “countries wishing to be part of the bloc have to be aligned with our values”. “This particularly applies to their policy on Russia. EU candidate countries cannot continue doing business as usual or aligning their foreign policy strategies with a warmongering regime,” they are quoted as saying in a press release ahead of the presentation of the enlargement package by the European Commission.

“Enlargement is an existential task for the future of Europe. This is a matter of the continent’s security and key to containing Russia. No more grey zones of frozen European perspectives – they are critically dangerous for the EU.

Enlargement is how we stop the recurrence of aggressive regimes in our neighbourhood. However, enlargement is a two-way process – the EU must reform itself first for a successful expansion of the bloc“, Jukneviciene said.

Rangel warned that the Western Balkans could be Russia’s next front after Ukraine. “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine sheds light on the Kremlin’s imperialism in Europe. … The governments of aspiring countries must seriously commit to and implement the requested reforms, but also the EU itself must reform itself and prepare its Institutions for the future enlargement,” he said.