Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am a passionate believer in enlargement, notwithstanding all the challenges that come with it and that Deputy Lawless outlined in terms of rule of law and alignment. As regards the constant challenges, it is clear that the populations of many of these countries want to be in the EU and want the norms we have in democracy and economic development and the Single Market benefits that brings.

There is no doubt that the war in Ukraine has been a major catalyst for this new phase of enlargement. I would argue that the European Union, after the last big enlargement, slowed down the pace. I have sympathy with the countries of the western Balkans, such as Montenegro and North Macedonia. They have been waiting a long time. They are being kept on the long finger. Geopolitically, it is essential that we proceed at pace with enlargement because in its absence a vacuum emerges, and Russia will exploit that vacuum, as it has done in respect of Ukraine. There is no doubt that the acceleration of the Ukrainian candidacy, which I strongly supported as Taoiseach at the EU Council, has helped the western Balkans in their application processes.

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