Klara Lindström participated as a speaker at the Swedish government’s EU career program

On the 19th of October SCEEUS analyst Klara Lindström was invited to participate in a session of the Swedish government’s EU career program. The program aims to contribute to long-term, structured and effective strategic workforce planning on EU-matters within the Swedish government. This session focused on EU’s historical enlargement, the current enlargement processes and what stance Sweden has taken on Ukraine and Moldova’s EU integration.   

Björn Linderfalk, Head of Section for South East Europe and EU Enlargement at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, started the session off by providing a historical overview of the EU enlargement processes, whilst also touching upon some of the most significant intricacies in such processes. As a representative of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Linderfalk then outlined the Swedish government’s stance on enlargement and reform matters. Klara Lindström then followed up on Linderfalk’s presentation by providing insights into how the current integration process of Ukraine is developing. Lindström furthermore touched upon the needs and challenges which Ukraine faces in regard to the integration process, aspects which the students will have to address and interact with in their future roles at the EU. Lastly, Göran von Sydow, director of SIEPS, talked about the interplay between enlargement and implementation of reforms. The session was concluded with a discussion between the participants and the invited guest speakers.