Granting candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova in June 2022 was an important and worthwhile step taken by the EU. Yet, as currently devised, the accession process is long, complex, process-oriented, and ridden with uncertainties.
In his speech to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos last month, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that ‘protection of our values is more important than profit’, and that ‘freedom is more important than free trade’.
Generations of students of international relations at British universities have learned that liberals detest war and actively seek possibilities to eradicate conflict out of world politics.
The European Union often concludes international trade agreements, which contain shared competences with the Member States (the so-called mixed competences agreements), thus they require ratification from the national and/or regional parliaments in order to be enforced.