Europe’s next shore: The Black Sea region after EU enlargement

Once Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey join the EU, the Union will directly border the Black Sea, accounting for half of its coastline. According to the author of this paper, Mustafa Aydin, the question is not whether but rather when the EU will become a Black Sea power. As such, it will have to develop policies for regional issues and deal with threats to regional stability, because it will be virtually impossible to prevent various crises around the Black Sea from affecting EU Europe. Finding ways to prevent likely destabilising factors from arising at the regional level and dealing with them before they affect the EU area will be a trial for the enlarged Union.