Ireland takes the helm of the EU presidency on July 1 with a clear priority: get the bloc growing again. Not through new treaties or budget fights, but by adding new members. Dublin wants to open the door.
The stakes are concrete. If Ireland succeeds, Montenegro could become the European Union’s 28th member by 2028.
That is a real date, not a diplomatic fantasy. The small Western Balkan country has already closed 16 of the 33 required negotiation chapters. Under Irish leadership, those talks might finish.
This matters because EU enlargement has stalled for years. Candidate countries sit in limbo.
Existing members bicker over internal reforms. The process has lost momentum. Ireland is betting its six-month presidency can restart the engine.
Dublin brings unusual credibility to the job. Irish diplomats remember 2004, when Ireland last held the presidency and the EU pulled off its biggest single expansion — eight Central and Eastern European nations plus Cyprus and Malta joined at once. That experience is still fondly remembered on the island.
Public surveys show the Irish remain largely supportive of letting new countries in. More importantly, Ireland has never blocked any enlargement step.
It has no bilateral disputes with any candidate. Other member states cannot say the same. France and the Netherlands have raised objections.
Hungary and Poland have their own grievances. But Ireland is seen as an honest broker, one of the few governments with clean hands on this issue.
That matters now because the candidate list is growing. Montenegro is the front-runner, but Ukraine, Moldova, and Albania are also waiting. Their progress depends on reforms, and those reforms depend on a credible promise of eventual membership.
If the EU cannot deliver that promise, the whole process loses meaning. Ireland’s presidency is not symbolic. The rotating presidency sets the Council’s agenda, chairs meetings, and brokers compromises.
Dublin can push enlargement to the top of the agenda and keep it there for six months. That is enough time to close chapters, unblock negotiations, and set a path toward accession.
A sharp rise in diplomatic activity is expected. Irish officials will shuttle between capitals. Candidate countries will face tougher scrutiny.
Montenegro’s remaining 17 chapters will be opened one by one, or not. The clock is ticking.
What happens if Ireland fails? The message to the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe would be clear: the EU is not serious about expansion. Russia watches these signals.
China does too. Enlargement is not just a bureaucratic process. It is a geopolitical statement about where Europe’s borders end and who belongs inside them.
Ireland has six months to prove the door is still open. The country’s own history shows it can be done.
In 2004, the EU grew by ten countries in a single day. Nobody thought that was possible either — until it happened.
