The 2004 and 2007 enlargements pushed the EU's external border further east as well as closer to unstable areas in the western Balkans. With future enlargements unlikely in the short-term, the EU faces new challenges in securing stable relationships with these neighbouring countries, while not fostering false hopes of early accession.

The 2004 and 2007 enlargements pushed the EU's external border further east as well as closer to unstable areas in the western Balkans. With future enlargements unlikely in the short-term, the EU faces new challenges in securing stable relationships with these neighbouring countries, while not fostering false hopes of early accession.

Introduction; J.DeBardeleben Part I: EU ENLARGEMENT AND THE NEW NEIGHBOURS The New Neighbours of the European Union: The Compelling Logic of Enlargement?; T.Casier The European Neighbourhood Policy and Why the Northern Dimension Matters; C.S.Browning & P.Joenniemi Part II: THE EU AND RUSSIA The EU's Policy towards Russia: Extending Governance beyond Borders?; S.Gänzle Public Attitudes toward EU-Russian Relations: Knowledge, Values, and Interests; J.DeBardeleben Regulatory Convergence and Global Partnership: Another Phase in EU-Russia Relations; H.Rytovuori-Apunen Russia and the New Europe: Strategies for an Evolving Relationship; N.Noonan Part III: THE EU, UKRAINE AND MOLDOVA Ukraine and the European Neighbourhood Policy; C.C.Pentland Security Concerns in the EU Neighbourhood: The Effects of EU Immigration and Asylum Policy for Ukraine; L.Zhyznomirska The Bologna Process: Exploring Mechanisms of European Enlargement in Ukraine; T.Koshmanova Whither Moldova: East or West?; R.Weiner PartIV: THE EU AND SOUTH EAST EUROPE The Europeanization of 'Defective Democracies' in the Western Balkans: Pre-Accession Challenges to Democratic Consolidation; L.J.Cohen The EU in South East Europe: Peace Consolidation and Differentiation; A.Bendiek From Petersberg to Pristina: ESDP Operations in South East Europe; C.C.Pentland Conclusion; J.DeBardeleben