THE FIFTH EU ENLARGEMENT, completed in 2007, was in many ways different from the previous enlargement rounds. A major difference from the security policy perspective is that most of the new member states belonged to the Eastern block during the Cold War. This study puts the latest enlargement under scrutiny and analyses the compatibility of the candidate countries´ views on security with that of the EU. The focus is on the variety of ways in which these countries perceived EU´s role in different domains of security.

The book also provides an understanding of how the role of security has changed during the integration process. It explains how arguments related to security politics have been used in promoting (or opposing) the accession of new member states. Using the five enlargement rounds as milestones the book draw a historical picture on the interrelationship between security and integration from the Schuman Declaration (195) to Solana´s Security Strategy (2003) and beyond.