The EU likes to underline that enlargement towards the east is a security priority. And indeed, since the war in Ukraine started, accession negotiations have begun with several countries, most of them in the Balkans. But in a shock referendum result, barely over 50 percent of voters in Moldova said Yes to pro-EU constitutional changes. And in another shock for Brussels, Georgian Dream beat the staunchly pro-European opposition in the parliamentary election in Georgia; a vote whose integrity the EU has called into question.

So is the EU losing the battle for hearts and minds in some of the countries that initially set themselves on a European path?

To discuss this issue, we're joined by Romanian MEP Nicolae Stefanuta, vice president of the European Parliament and a substitute on the Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Association Committee. He sits with the Group of the Greens.

We're also joined by Bulgarian MEP Kristian Vigenin, from the Socialists and Democrats, who is on the Delegation to the EU-North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee, and a substitute on the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Association Committee.