When I look back , I have the impression that we all saw European solidarity as a starting point and not as part of the long process of integration and building of an ever closer union and European citizenship , a concept that still requires further consideration . I believe we saw the consequences of enlargement in a static way and were not taking into account the strategic patience needed to make solidarity grow , to maintain hope in the project and , last but not least , to ensure that the newcomers developed feelings of ownership and responsibility .
The 2004 enlargement countries had only recently regained political sovereignty and were prioritising broadly understood security issues , going beyond the military dimension . For some of those in charge of accession , it was obvious that there would be difficult situations , tensions and moments of lost votes , but probably none of us assumed at that time that anti-European political forces would grow on Polish soil .
The 2004 enlargement did not go unnoticed by our neighbours , the people of Ukraine , who saw it as a new iron curtain erected by the Union . At that time , we told our neighbours that the capacity for their institutional participation in European integration did not yet exist in the European Union . That led to the concept of the Ring of Friends , envisioned by Romano Prodi . While providing a form of coaching for Ukrainian administrators , politicians and civil society over the past two years , I realised that we must not ignore the lessons from 2004 . It is true that you join the EU on your own merits but Central and Eastern European countries have a lot in common in their experiences of the enlargement process .
While the focus on a new sense of European identity , solidarity , values and the human face of Europe played key roles in debates about the ‘ big bang ’ enlargement , issues of ethics and politics were
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