| While the current EU member states need a specific day as a reminder that belonging to the bloc bears advantages, for those outside, every day is ‘Europe Day’. I happened to be in Kyiv on the last Independence Day before Russia’s full-scale invasion. The ‘Ode to Joy’, the unofficial EU anthem, was blasting from all speakers on Maidan Square. And a much younger-looking, much better-shaved Zelenskyy sent yet another not-so-subtle message to Brussels that his citizens want their country in the EU. Fast forward to today: Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia – and to some extent some of the Western Balkan countries – oversell themselves in their display of pro-European signalling, despite setbacks on a number of domestic issues. Ukraine is paying with blood for its European future, Moldovans are holding massive rallies before a pro-Europe referendum in October, and Georgians are fighting riot police against a “foreign influence” bill that could jeopardise the country’s path to membership. As former European Commission President José Manuel Barroso put it in a recent interview with us, reflecting on 20 years of EU enlargement policy: “We see people waving EU flags, [like they have done on the Maidan when I was in Ukraine]. What do we want more? How many people in current EU member states would do this at the moment?” | 