Heimerl, Daniela
Germany and the Eastward Enlargement of the European Union
- 2003.
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The profound transformations that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been experiencing since 1990 changed both the aims and instruments of the German foreign policy, as well as the functions of the most important international institutions, e.g. the European Union (EU). The preservation of economic prosperity and security has been substituted for the “exportation” of stability. Based on this background, the remaking and the enlargement of the EU combine the most important interests and the greatest challenges that the German foreign policy has to meet today. The European enlargement is therefore intrinsically linked to the following questions: which future for Germany’s role in Europe and how can the German interests in Central Europe be defined?