欧盟东扩进入深水区（英文）

EU Enlargement in the 21st Century:New Stage and Challenges

Since the drastic changes in Eastern Europe more than 20 years ago, the EU has been making tireless efforts on its eastern expansion project. That said, the attempt to include Ukraine as a member state recently triggered chaos in Europe that has not been seen in decades, flaring up a serious struggle between Russia and Western countries. Currently, EU enlargement faces a more complicated situation and is in urgent need of new measures.

With the end of the Cold War,the EU gained a rare opportunity to adopt new members from the former Soviet Union's sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. From 2004 to 2007,a large number of regional countries changed the composition of the EU and Europe. Concurrently,the EU faced the rise,fall,and adjustment in the EU's eastward enlargement. Currently,the EU's eastward enlargement is facing a serious obstacle in the form of the Ukrainian Crisis. Some policy considerations have been challenged.