The future of U.S.-EU ties remains uncertain after Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race. Europe must be prepared to take charge of its own security.*

Macron’s snap election has left France ill-equipped to provide strategic leadership to the EU. This undermines Europe’s ability to deal with the plethora of challenges it faces.

To prepare for a larger union, the EU needs institutional reform. But enlargement and deeper integration have always gone hand in hand and should not be seen as mutually exclusive.

The EU’s enlargement momentum, fueled by Russia’s war against Ukraine, is wearing off. To make political conditionality work, the union must prioritize securing buy-in from candidate countries’ elites and civil society.

A stronger far-right presence in the European Parliament could put a brake on some EU policies. But the main test to the bloc’s stability and global role may come from the rise of nationalist politics in France and Germany.

This week’s political conferences will highlight Ukraine’s threefold challenge of wartime resilience, recovery, and EU accession. Kyiv’s partners must adjust to thinking in all three dimensions simultaneously.