Far-right Opposition to EU Enlargement

Ioannis Alexandris, Research Fellow at the South-East Europe Programme of ELIAMEP, was a guest on the ERT program SYNORA, hosted by journalist Kalli Zarali. He discussed the rise of the far-right in light of the recent German elections and the reasons why the majority of far-right Eurosceptic parties oppose EU enlargement.

Drawing on the recent report from the new initiative of ELIAMEP’s South-East Europe Programme, think nea – New Narratives of EU Integration, which he authored, Alexandris highlighted four key arguments used by far-right formations to oppose enlargement:

• Migration flows – Security concerns, including the risk of increased crime and potential terrorism due to higher migration flows.
• Economic impact – Parties from net-contributor EU countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and France argue that enlargement would place a financial burden on these states and their citizens.
• Foreign policy and stance toward Russia – Parties like the AfD show a tolerant attitude toward Russia and oppose Ukraine’s accession, believing such a development would worsen EU-Russia relations.
• EU functionality – Enlargement would make the EU more dysfunctional, while potential institutional changes, such as the introduction of qualified majority voting on foreign policy issues, could negatively affect national sovereignty.

At the same time, he noted that far-right Eurosceptic parties do not have a unified stance on enlargement. For instance, Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia supports enlargement, Austria’s FPÖ backs Serbia’s accession but not Bosnia and Herzegovina’s, while Orbán’s Fidesz promotes Western Balkans integration—particularly Serbia’s—but opposes Ukraine and Moldova joining the EU.

You can watch Ioannis Alexandris’ commentary (in Greek) in full here.